Seeds of Vengeance
by GenericX
Summary: Ed's vacation from the military doesn't go as planned. The return of an old enemy turns what would be a few peaceful weeks into horrific ones. Pairings: EdWinry.
1. And So It Begins

Here's my first try at an FMA fic, hope you enjoy. Sorry, of some of the stuff in this story is going to be OOC. Anyways, the beginning may be a bit confusing, but read on and hopefully it should become clearer.

Oh by the way, please don't take the title literally. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist... and I most likely never will. xD

**Seeds of Vengeance**

Chapter 1: And So It Begins

* * *

Multitudes of cold raindrops fell out of the sky, mercilessly colliding with the world below. Lightning lit up the dark sky every so often accompanied by bone-rattling thunder. A lone figure sat curled up on a couch in the Rockbell residence, thinking the same phrase over and over again: 'It was going to be another one of those nights.' 

Obviously this kind of weather was inevitable, though she hated it with a passion. Then again, sitting around all evening long doing nothing wasn't really productive; an auto-mail business could be quite demanding after all. Giving one more sigh, the blonde haired mechanic set off to complete yet another piece of mechanical wonder. Everyone else had already retired for the day, including Edward which actually surprised her considering his tendencies to stay up late reading literature involving Alchemy.

Several minutes passed, yet she barely managed to get anything done. The artificial arm needed to be complete by tomorrow morning, and the lack of progress was starting to frustrate her. Something was preoccupying her, but she couldn't understand what. Ed and Al were both safely asleep in the spare bedrooms, currently enjoying a vacation that Colonel Mustang granted them. This meant that her primary worry was not applicable right now. Nothing else warranted any attention, so what could be causing her to lose concentration? 'Maybe I'm just trying too hard... yeah that's it,' she thought, trying to come up with an excuse. After a few more minutes of fruitless work, she gave up and called it a night. However, just as she was heading upstairs to her bedroom, something caught her eye. As lightning flashed and illuminated the muddy road that stretched parallel to her house, a figure could be seen slowly making his way in the distance. Naturally, this grabbed her curiosity, though it was probably just another unlucky person to get caught in this damned storm. With every strike of lightning, the figure appeared closer and closer to the house, and that figure strangely looked like someone she knew. Indeed the person in question, with a suspiciously familiar coat (or so she thought), looked almost like Edward. She immediately become furious with him.

"I swear, what are you trying to do Ed?" She questioned aloud unintentionally. Upon opening the front door, she turned to face the slowly approaching person. With a look of pure anger, she called out to the supposed Elric brother, "ED! Get back in here before you catch a cold or something!"

"Winry could you keep it down?" The voice of a sleepy Edward yelled from within the house.

She quickly retaliated to that statement, "Get yourself back in... the... house..." Impossible. How could Ed be yelling from inside her house when he was supposed to be outside? Right then and there, she realized her error. During this type of situation, she normally would have been embarrassed to a point beyond comprehension for yelling at a potential customer, but this wasn't a _typical_ situation. That person, who was now within yards of her house, had some aura of foreboding surrounding him. He appeared to be holding up something in his left arm, pointed directly at her. "Um, can I help you?" she called out, trying to be hospitable. However, that caring attitude changed within a matter of seconds. When another strike of lightning briefly lit up the area, she noticed that the item the person was carrying gave off a metallic shine from the light. Judging from the size of the object, it couldn't be an auto-mail component. But as lightning illuminated the world once again, the object turned out to be a jet black pistol, and the person's finger was right on the trigger.

Fear overtook her body at the sight of that gun, which was aimed at her forehead. She ran inside the house with unreal speed, slamming the door shut behind her. After taking a quick breath, she sprinted to Ed's nearby room. "Ed! Wake up, there's a guy with a gun running around outside!" Her eyes widened as she burst into his room only to find it deserted. "Ed... this better not be some kind of sick joke..." she warned, taking out her trademark wrench.

The wooden door slowly shut behind her as a deadly voice filled the room. "Oh don't worry little girl, you won't be seeing that fool for a long, long time." She froze in place, the wrench slipping out of her grasp and hitting the floor with a thud. Almost involuntarily, she turned around to face the person. He was completely wrapped in a dark brown cloak soaked with rain water, including a hood that hid his face. In addition to that, his thick boots and gloves, both possessing a matching hue of gray, were covered in some red liquid, most likely blood. The gun that he held was still positioned to fire a round to her head.

"Who... who are you and what did you do to Ed?" She asked, voice full of fear.

The figure chuckled and spoke up, "Who I am is unimportant at the moment, but as for your second question: I think you already know what I did." He hinted the loaded gun with his other hand.

Her eyes started to fill with tears and disbelief after realizing what this person was trying to say. "You're lying... you wouldn't do that for no reason!"

"Oh but I _do_ have a reason," the person replied, relishing her depressed face, "And I think you too will find out soon enough." With that, he pulled the trigger and her world came to a screeching halt...

Winry sat up in her bed with a scream, cold sweat covering her face. She slowly looked around and realized that it was only a nightmare. Actually, that was a rather weird nightmare. It seemed way too realistic for a haunting dream, and this was the first time in a long time that she experienced that variety. Shrugging it aside, Winry decided to go grab a drink of water before attempting to sleep away the remainder of the night. She descended the stairs and was about to enter the kitchen, but froze when she heard an unfamiliar noise coming from within it. Winry took out her wrench (which she conveniently brought along) and took a deep breath as she flattened herself against a wall. Without another thought, she jumped in the open and chucked the wrench at the figure of a person standing by the open refrigerator.

Her "weapon" hit her target square in the head, causing the figure to fall to the floor in pain. "Oh god damn it, Winry!" hollered the voice of an annoyed Edward, "Can't I get some peace even in the middle of the night!" The elder Elric brother stood up clad only in a shirt and boxers, rubbing his aching head.

"Well how was I supposed to know that you were sneaking around the house at this time?" She retorted.

"You didn't need to! I was just looking for something to eat!" Ed fumed, "And there is no need to throw wrenches at random!"

"Hell, you could have been a damn murderer for God's sake!"

"And since when do murderers run around half naked, you machine loving moron?"

Winry hesitated for a second, seeing that Ed actually had a point. Yet she never lost an argument against Ed, so this just won't do. "At least I do something other than read about that damn stone like some kind of alchemy-obsessed midget!" She crossed her arms and smiled at Ed, pleased with her efforts.

"Who are you calling a speck of dust that is too small to be noticed?" Ed quickly shouted back, one of his eyes twitching at her comment.

"WILL YOU TWO JUST BE QUIET ALREADY AND GO TO SLEEP!" Pinako yelled from upstairs, clearly upset at the lack of sleep she was getting due to the loud arguing going on. This put an end to Winry and Ed's prolonged dispute.

The alchemist sighed again and started heading back to his room. "Hopefully I'll be able to sleep without having anymore wrenches smacking me in my sleep," he stated coldly, straying away from the wrench laying nearby on the floor.

Winry decided to let that slide and considered telling Ed about her questionable dream, but decided that she shouldn't bother him again for the night considering his bad mood that she was primarily responsible for. Quite exhausted herself, Winry set off to sleep away the rest of the night, hoping that there were no more events in store for her.

* * *

(Morning: 8:00 AM) 

Early next morning, Ed was reclining on a chair in the kitchen while chugging down his breakfast of bacon and eggs like it was nothing. Pinako, Al, and Winry tried their best to finish their meal and disregard the hungry alchemist, but it became unbearable after a few minutes of constant clattering of silverware. Pinako decided to contain her annoyance and announced her plans to the others at the table. "Ed calm down for a moment, I got some news," she said, managing to make some silence, "Anyway, our auto-mail supplies are running rather low after the excellent business we've been having in the past month. This means that I need to go down to Rush Valley and restock."

"Yeah that's great, but what's so important about it?" Ed demanded, ready to scarf the rest of his food.

"I'm getting to that," Pinako replied impatiently, "There is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime auto-mail convention going on there. The latest technology and advancements to auto-mail are going to be presented, and I _need_ to know what we've been missing out on! Sigh, but unfortunately, this means that I'll be gone for at least a full week."

"A week?" Winry spoke up, "Who's going to run the shop while you're gone?"

"Obviously you are," Pinako answered, much to Winry's delight, "And Al, I'll need you to come with me so we can carry all of the auto-mail parts back." Al looked positively overjoyed at her request and replied in the affirmative.

"Wait, why can't I come along?" Ed inquired, putting on a pleading face.

Pinako shook her head in disapproval, "With that beaten up auto-mail on you, it'd be an embarrassment to even bring you into town." Indeed, Ed's auto-mail wasn't in the best shape possible considering his previous adventures. Parts of his artificial arm were missing and his leg's plating was incorrigibly damaged at most points. The alchemist, feeling defeated, started grumbling incoherent phrases containing long strings of curse words directed at Pinako.

Winry sighed from across the table, knowing that she'd soon be building replacements for him. "I'll get to work on making new ones in a few minutes," she said rather reluctantly, "Anyway, when are you leaving?"

"In about an hour," Pinako said, "Or sooner depending on how long it takes me and Al to pack. Speaking of packing, we should be doing that right now before we end up missing the train." With that, she and Al left for their respective rooms to prepare for the extended "shopping trip."

Winry, though trying to focus on finishing her food, could not help but gaze at Ed's damaged auto-mail. Ed noticed her goggling at the torn metal on his right arm, and it was honestly starting to get him annoyed. "What do you expect? I use this auto-mail practically everyday so of course it's going to get ruffed up slightly," he said after about five minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"Slightly! That arm is totally wrecked!" Winry hissed back, "And how do my other customers' limbs manage to stay together much longer than yours?"

"Well I'm not just _any_ customer now am I?" he asked slyly.

Winry couldn't help but smile at that comment. "Yeah I guess, but please at least try."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, downing the rest of the bacon on the plate, "And I apologize for yelling. I don't blame you for being mad at me constantly destroying your hard work." This statement actually surprised both Winry and himself hence Ed hardly ever acted this nicely after an argument.

"It's alright," Winry replied, still slightly stunned, "Don't worry about those limbs; I'll get to building new ones soon." Ed thanked her for the kindness, putting on one of his broad grins.

The blonde mechanic placed her plate in the sink and headed off to the workshop, telling Ed that she'll try to complete his replacement limbs hopefully by tomorrow night. Ed in the meantime, had taken up reading yet another Alchemy related book on the sofa. Before either of them knew it, an hour had passed by and it was time for Pinako and Al to depart for Rush Valley.

"Like I said, we'll be gone for at least a week," Pinako reminded them, "So when I come back, this house better still be standing." Both Ed and Winry forced an innocent laugh, knowing that Pinako's request would probably not be fulfilled. After all, silence would be a very rare luxury if Ed and Winry were in the same building, not to mention a small building.

"Don't worry," Ed replied sheepishly, "I'll try to cut down on the arguing."

"That's not very reassuring coming from you," Al chuckled, knowing Ed better than anyone.

"Take it easy, we'll be fine," Winry said with a slight laugh, holding back an infuriated Ed bent on tackling Al.

"Alright then. Take care you two," Pinako waved cheerfully as she and Al set off down the dusty road. Ed and Winry voiced their good-byes before returning back inside, the latter setting off to finish her auto-mail work while the former got back to researching the Philosopher's Stone. The remnant of the day dragged through rather uneventfully. Winry only left the workshop once in a while to fetch something to eat and neither lunch nor diner was eaten formally at the table. The Fullmetal Alchemist himself omitted the meals altogether, instead claiming that his alchemy studies were astronomically more important. It seemed like only a few hours before night had already taken its place outside and the last of the sunlight faded away. By midnight, Ed, who finally realized how quiet it was without having Al to talk to, decided to pay Winry a visit while she worked.

Not only was this a foolish idea considering that Winry didn't like being disrupted when she was at work, but it would mean that another meeting between her infamous wrench and Ed's forehead was in order. Nonetheless, it was better than sitting in silence just reading cryptic passages from a dusty volume. "So what are you working on, Winry?" Ed inquired, peeking over her shoulder at the incomplete piece of auto-mail.

"Just finishing your new arm," she replied, not the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice like it usually would in this situation.

Ed picked up on this and gave her a strange look in response. "Um, isn't this the part where you are supposed to clobber me with your wrench and chase me out of this room?"

Winry shrugged, "I'm not in the mood right now, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Ed pursued the subject, "You look like something is bothering you."

"Seriously, it's nothing," she replied, trying to sound honest, "I didn't sleep too well last night so I'm just really tired." She had another opportunity to discuss her dream, but decided it was insignificant at the moment. Ed gave up trying to force information out of her and instead grabbed a chair to watch her work.

After an additional two hours, both of the teenagers were completely maxed out. Winry finished up some minor details and was about to head to bed, but noticed that Ed fell asleep in his chair. "Hey Ed, wake up," she whispered, gently shaking the sleeping alchemist. She was unsuccessful, however, and resorted to flipping his chair over, which gave Ed a rude awakening.

"Do you enjoy causing me pain?" he asked rhetorically, stumbling sleepily to stand on his feet.

Winry just shrugged, "It's not my fault that you are a heavy sleeper or the fact that my work is boring enough to make you fall asleep."

"No no, it's not boring!" Ed tried to defend himself before he offended Winry's auto-mail passion.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Ed," Winry said, not believing him for a second, "It can't be as boring as reading those books." Ignoring her comment, Ed wished her a good night and retreated to his bedroom. Shaking her head in amusement, Winry shut off the lights in the workshop and climbed the stairs to her room, exhausted from the day's activities. 'I just hope that I don't have anymore ridiculous nightmares...' She silently prayed as she ascended the stairs.

Yet how wrong she was, Winry didn't know...

* * *

And there is chapter 1. ;D Please drop a review and I'll try to answer it in the next update. Stay tuned for more. 


	2. Hauntings in the Night

Heh, I'm back with chapter 2! Whoop-de-doo. ;D Anyways, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers and anyone who read the fic thus far. (I'll acknowledge the reviewers at the end of the chapter.) Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 2: Hauntings in the Night

* * *

Winry wiped the familiar cold sweat off her forehead, still trying to recover after yet another ghastly nightmare. It was another dream which depicted Ed, as well as herself, dieing in the hands of the same hooded murderer by the same weapon.

At first, Winry just thought it was coincidence, but then again maybe it wasn't just plain luck that caused these two consecutive dreams. However unlikely, maybe these dreams were trying to send a message to her. Either way, she had to tell Ed about her prophetic nightmares, seeking even the slightest reassurance from him. But should she really bother him with such petty things? He was on vacation after all, so dreams of murderers would probably be one of the last things he'd want to discuss.

A cold breeze swept over her body as she tried to fall back asleep, sending chills up her spine. Something was definitely going on, something bad. Well, either that or she had finally snapped. Winry decided to go ahead and shut her bedroom window as the breeze was starting to become irritating after a few moments.

Just as Winry opened the twin curtains, she noticed something strange about her window. Scribbled in messy, red writing on the interior glass was a short passage, which read: "You will be the first..."

For a second, she stood there simply dumbstruck, fear paralyzing her entire body. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the message. The red substance, which was used to write out the entire sentence, oozed down the glass, pooling on the window sill. It was almost sickening to observe, as the substance quite obviously was blood. Winry didn't dare dwell on the subject of _who's_ blood it could be. She instead continued to simply goggle at her window, her mind and body not responding to the world.

Soon enough, however, her human instincts took over and she did the only logical thing: scream. She bolted out of her bedroom without another thought, her mind trying to process what was just seen. Not knowing what came over her, Winry rushed to Ed's room and pulled him forcefully out of bed.

"Winry, what the hell are you doing?" Ed asked with sleep still lingering in his voice. She didn't answer, and instead dragged him into her room and over to the window.

"Look over there," she commanded, "There is something written on my window!"

Ed, who was still half asleep, trudged over and took a look. Winry froze as she realized that the writing in blood wasn't there anymore, and she could have sworn that it was there just a few seconds ago. Frankly, the glass showed no trace of anything being done to it, not even a smudge. The alchemist didn't see the problem, and came to a conclusion. "I think you were hallucin-"

"I wasn't hallucinating!" she finished for him, "I swear that there was something on it!" Ed didn't buy it, and instead started back for his room. "Where do you think you're going!" Winry called after him.

Ed replied with a huge yawn, "Back to bed, and so should you. Why don't you sleep in late so we don't have another one of these 'I-saw-something-in-the-window' episodes, ok?" The sleepy alchemist didn't wait for an answer and instead dragged himself back to bed.

Winry was furious with him for disbelieving her, but who wouldn't? Her tale seemed completely ludicrous without any proof. She had no right to be angry with Ed, but she hoped that he would at least consider it with some importance, however little that may be. Winry tried to put that incident behind her as she curled up in her own bed. Her thoughts, however, involuntarily continued to linger on the message. How the hell was it possible that the writing was gone within a matter of seconds? No one could have scaled her house to the second floor in that much time, let alone initially write the message from the _inside_.

What troubled her even more was that she didn't understand the statement. What was this all about? What was going to happen and when? Perhaps the person had her confused with someone else. After all, she didn't do anything that would cause harm to anyone recently, with the exception of smacking Ed with her wrench of course. So what was this person's motive?

It was all becoming very confusing. The blonde mechanic made an attempt to avoid the topic altogether, regardless how difficult that might be. The lack of sleep was detrimental to her body, and keeping her mind on these unpleasant subjects wasn't much of a help. For now, it would be best to pursue some rest and deal with all these troubles some other time.

* * *

(Later that night)

Winry awoke once again several hours later. Glancing over at her clock, she discovered that it was now five in the morning. With a frustrated moan, she shut her eyes and attempted to drift back to her unusually quiet rest. It was all for naught, however, as she heard a series of abnormal sounds coming from elsewhere in the house. At first, she dismissed the erratic noises, believing that they were probably caused by the wind gusting outside.

Indeed, the weather had took a turn for the worse over the hours that elapsed since she first encountered the peculiar writing on her window. The storm's winds were now powerfully gusting against the house's walls, and the precipitation had picked up. Yet, those noises seemed unlikely to be a result of the outside conditions. Knowing that those sounds would keep her up, Winry commanded herself out of bed to go investigate the cause.

Right off the bat, she knew that this was probably going to be an unproductive trip, but her curiosity wouldn't let her be. Upon arriving downstairs, she traced the banging noise to the living room. There was a flaw in her approach, however, as there was nothing in this room that could be causing the racket. Then again, wandering around in the darkness wouldn't prove too much of a help anyway.

The auto-mail mechanic went over to a nearby lamp and turned it on. As soon she gained some visibility, Winry's eyes landed on the table that stood in the center of the room. Written on the wooden surface was another message, similar to the one on her window. However, this time it presented her with what appeared to be a continuation of the first.

"And your friend will be the next," Winry whispered to herself, reciting the messy statement.

She didn't know what to do at this point. There was no reason to fetch Ed considering that the message might somehow disappear, just like last time. But what if Ed actually did see this message? Knowing the alchemist, he'd probably sit up all night guarding the entire house, looking for even the slightest excuse to go after someone who might be responsible for these cryptic passages. That would really spoil his break, not to mention that she would be unable to enjoy spending this rare time with him.

This, however, all depended on whether or not he actually would see the message in the first place. Winry forced herself back to the real world, and darted into the kitchen as quietly as she could. After a moment of looking, she grabbed a cloth that was lying near the sink and soaked it with water. She was determined to erase that message off the face of the earth, hoping that Ed didn't wake up yet. She returned to the living room with the moist cloth in her possession, though she promptly dropped it in shock.

The message that was previously scribbled on the table had vanished without a trace. Winry's eyes widened in disbelief as she now stood observing a regular coffee table, free of any obscure writing. She could now safely conclude that _someone_ must be doing this. After all, writing doesn't vaporize by itself.

'What the hell is going on here?' she questioned, walking over to the table for a closer examination. A quick scan of the wooden surface revealed nothing, and so she proceeded on to check the windows and doors, which were all securely locked before she went to sleep, to see if they showed any signs of forced entry. Winry sighed in defeat as her efforts ultimately turned up nothing.

After yet another hour of searching, Winry gave up on trying to locate where the person might have entered the house. Dawn would come in only a few hours, and having no intentions of trying to get further sleep, Winry resorted to resuming work on Ed's auto-mail for the remainder of the time.

* * *

(Early that morning)

Ed stretched out his arms as he grabbed an apple from the kitchen shortly after waking up. Apart from the little incident that happened last night, he had to admit that he got some long deserved rest.

Just as he was about to absorb himself in another book, a series of noises coming from the workshop triggered his curiosity, and naturally he went to investigate. Upon entering, he discovered that Winry was already up and finishing some minor details on his replacement arm. He was actually rather surprised to see her awake and working this early in the day.

"I see someone's up bright and early," Ed said as he approached Winry.

She acknowledged his presence and silently replied with a shrug. This left the alchemist baffled. "Are you feeling alright?" he interrogated.

"I'm fine," she replied simply, in an unusually low tone.

Ed assumed that she still had her mind on that thing with the window. "Look, I'm sure that you were just imagining what you saw last night," he tried to console her, "It was late and you probably were very tired, which caused you to see things that really weren't there." He thought his theory would calm her, but his plan backfired.

This instead sparked Winry's nerves, quite the opposite of what Ed hoped for. "But I _did_ see something," she replied, slightly annoyed that Ed didn't believe her once again, "I woke up in the middle of the night and there on my window was... oh, never mind!" She got up from the chair she was sitting on and stormed away to the living room, leaving a confused Edward behind her.

'Maybe she did see something,' Ed thought after seeing her previously truthful face. He chanced a look over at the unfinished auto-mail arm, trying to see how much more work it needed. His thoughts, however, were disturbed when he heard a crash from somewhere within the house. 'Aw great, she probably wrecked something in her anger,' Ed pondered with a chuckle.

His assumption proved wrong when he found Winry sprawled out on the floor, near the stairs that led to the upper floors. Her limp form wasn't moving, but he could safely tell that she was breathing.

"Uh, Winry?" the alchemist called out as he went over to her, initially assuming that exhaustion had taken its toll on her body. Seeing that she wasn't coming about, Ed gently lifted her in his arms and carried the snoozing Winry to her room. "You seriously have to get some more rest tonight," Ed said as he placed Winry on her bed, pulling the covers over her.

He scratched his head as he left her bedroom. 'Heh, I'll never understand her...' he thought in amusement, forging on to his alchemy studies.

* * *

(Sometime in the afternoon)

Winry slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in her bed. Upon glancing out the window, she could tell that the storm from the night before came back with full force, which wasn't the type of weather that she had hoped for. Groaning in annoyance, the blonde mechanic slowly lifted herself out of bed and stepped out of the room.

As always, Ed was making himself comfortable on the living room couch, with an apple in one hand and an alchemy book in the other. She tiredly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and proceeded downstairs, eager to continue on with the auto-mail she was supposed to be constructing.

Ed noticed that Winry was awake once more, and waved happily to her. "Good morning!" he called out, "Or rather, good afternoon."

Winry gave him a strange look. "What do you mean, good _afternoon_?"

The alchemist rolled his eyes. He responded by pointing at a clock, "It's at least three in the afternoon by now."

Any lingering sleep immediately drained itself from her body. "It's already three o'clock!" she exclaimed, checking a clock that hung in the room, "How am I going to finish all that work now!" Winry went on to yell out random sentences, blaming herself for oversleeping.

Ed sighed at her current state. "Winry!" he hollered, trying to bring her back to reality, "You practically collapsed from exhaustion today. Take it easy, you have plenty of time to get that auto-mail done. And if it makes you any happier, you can put my auto-mail aside for now and finish that other auto-mail for your customers first."

"Seriously, Ed," she replied, declining his offer, "You know I can't just ditch your auto-mail and keep you waiting."

"You can and you will," he said, determined to prevent her from forcing herself to work overtime again, "I'll make sure that happens, even if it means having to guard that workshop with my life." Ed put on a broad grin, signaling that he was going to stick to his plan.

Winry gave a sigh and trudged off to the workshop. "Fine," was her simple reply before disappearing from his view.

Ed, pleased with his victory, resumed reading the complicated text from the book that was now propped open in his hand.

The storm outside intensified as the remainder of the day turned into dusk. Gale-force winds blasted against the house's sturdy walls as buckets of rain fell from the dark clouds looming in the sky. One quick glance outside told Ed that he wasn't going to be enjoying any outdoor time very soon. He actually wished that some decent weather would be present during his break, but apparently his wish would remain unanswered. Then again, he had another free week following this one, so hopefully things would clear up by then.

Ed noticed that Winry finally left the workshop and was now washing her hands in the bathroom sink. 'About time,' he thought to himself.

"Hey, Ed?" Winry called out, emerging from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" the alchemist replied, wondering what task she would request of him this time.

"Thanks for letting me finish my other auto-mail beforehand," she said sincerely.

This caught Ed off guard, as he wasn't expecting any gratitude from her. "Um, sure. No problemo," he acknowledged.

"Really! I'm just about done with..." she failed to complete her sentence because a series of loud banging on the front door interrupted her.

"I really wouldn't want to be the person standing out there right now," Ed said with a laugh.

Winry rolled her eyes and went ahead to answer the door. However, upon opening the door, she discovered that there wasn't a single person there. She even tried to see through the pouring rain if the person had perhaps went on his or her way. Sighing, Winry was about to shut the door when she noticed a small note pinned to the outside of the door with a knife.

Her eyes went wide in horror as she quickly snatched the note and pocketed it. She removed the knife, which was jammed fairly well into the door, and tossed it somewhere outside.

"Who was it?" Ed inquired as he went over to her.

Winry slammed the door shut, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. "I-It was no one!" she replied, rather too hastily.

The alchemist suspected that she was trying to hide something from him. By the look of her nervous face, she obviously wasn't innocent. "Alright, what is going on?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" Winry replied with a question of her own, trying rather unsuccessfully to conceal the note she found. Seeing that Ed wasn't fooled, Winry sighed and gave up. "Ok, I might as well tell you. There wasn't anybody there, but I found this stuck to the door." She handed Ed the note, deciding to keep the knife a secret for now.

Ed's eyes quickly scanned the piece of torn paper, and his interest seemed peaked. "It says that both of you will pay. Do you know to whom this thing is referring to?" The alchemist handed her the note back, letting Winry read it for herself.

"Ed, I think it's talking about _us_," she replied grimly. If there was any better time to disclose her nightmares, then it would be now.

"W-What do you mean? It could be referring to anyone in the world! Why would it be us?" Ed didn't see where Winry was coming up with her thoughts, but he point-blank refused to believe her claim.

"I guess I have no choice but to tell you about something," Winry said, slowly walking back into the living room with Ed close behind her. She took a seat at one end of the couch as Ed sat nearby. "I've been having nightmares over the past two nights. They weren't _normal_, so to say. It's almost as though they were trying to tell me something." She went on to tell Ed about her nightmares, leaving out anything that had to do with the writing in blood for the time being.

"And last night, I dreamed that we were sitting and talking just like we are right now," she continued, remembering her previous nightmare, "Then someone knocked on the door, so I went to answer it. But when I opened the door, I saw that same guy standing right there. You came in to check who it was, and then that murderer pulled out his gun... and he..." she had difficulty finishing what she said, tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"And he did what?" Ed asked softly, trying not to provoke her emotions.

Winry managed to reply in an almost inaudible voice, "He... he shot you clear in the head. I ran over to you, but then I heard him fire another shot. That's... that's when I woke up," she found it hard to bring herself to say that last sentence. Winry hung her head low, avoiding Ed's eyes at all costs.

The alchemist himself didn't know what to say. She described her dreams down to every minor detail, painting gruesome pictures in Ed's mind. At first, he involuntarily rejected what she said, but there was no denying it that apparently there was someone behind this whole situation. However, he couldn't figure out anyone who he ever met that would match her description of the murderer. It could be one of the Homunculi, but he couldn't rush to conclusions just yet.

Her second nightmare troubled him the most. It seemed to almost predict what was going to happen, with the exception of the murderer showing up. It couldn't be a coincidence, but what if it wasn't? More unanswerable questions rushed into his mind the longer he pondered about those dreams.

After a few tense moments, Ed broke the silence. "Winry, why didn't you tell me any of this before?" he questioned.

She looked up at him, eyes glistening with tears of pain. "Because you never tell me anything!" she practically yelled, burying her face in her hands.

Her words hit him hard. It never dawned on Ed how his constant secrecy was affecting his best friend, and just by looking at her broken state told him exactly the pain he was causing. Regardless, he couldn't risk her safety by revealing information that might ultimately lead to unfavorable consequences.

"The only reason I keep you in the dark is so you can live a life without worries, unlike the one I am forced to lead," he replied, careful not to bring up any sensitive information.

"Oh really? I worry about you and Al everyday when you leave! And believe me, that is not such a worry-free life," she said, "Why can't you just tell me what is going on?"

"Because if I do, then I'll be putting your life on the line," Ed explained, trying to stress this as his main point.

Winry didn't reply right away. To a degree, he actually had a good reason to hide that information from her, but she was having a difficult time accepting this fact. She didn't understand exactly what harm might come to her, but she felt it was best not to discuss any possible situations.

"Winry," Ed gently said, causing her eyes to meet his, "If there was no danger, then I wouldn't be this secret. I know it must be hard on you to not know what's going on, but trust me for now. In the end, it will all make better sense." He actually wondered how the subject of their conversation managed to transfer into this one.

"I-I don't understand," Winry replied, wiping any stray tears from her face.

Ed reached over and placed his flesh hand on her cheek, an action that surprised even himself. "Just trust me. Once Al and I get our bodies back, then I'll tell you everything that I've been hiding."

Winry slowly nodded her head in agreement. She would have to be patient, but she finally saw that this was for her own sake. "Thanks, Ed," she said, accepting his comfort.

Ed realized that his hand still lingered on her face moments later, and so he slowly pulled it back. "Don't mention it," he said, a very faint blush fabricating itself on his face, as well as Winry's.

"But what do we do about that note?" Winry asked, bringing up the subject of the note.

Ed thought about that strange piece of paper for a moment. "I say we just forget about it for now, since we can't be sure that whoever wrote it is being serious. Nonetheless, we still should be careful."

"Alright then," she replied with a slight yawn, seeing that her troubles for the day had mostly been cleared up.

"It's getting rather late. We really should go get some nightmare-free rest," Ed pointed out, looking over at a nearby clock. It was now quarter to eleven, and both teenagers were unusually tired and longing for sleep.

"Well then, I guess I'll call it a day," Winry said, standing up and stretching her arms, "See you in the morning. Good night," the blonde mechanic said as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom.

"Night. Oh, and Winry?" Ed said, stopping her midway, "Seriously, try not to think too much about those nightmares and that note." She nodded with a smile, and climbed the remainder of the stairs.

* * *

So there you go. Liked it? Hated it? Please drop a review and tell me how it's going. ;P Time to acknowledge the reviewers:

**dbzgtfan2004**: Thanks, glad you like the fic. :P

**Yugata Tenshi**: Lol. ;D Thanks for the review!

**SugarHigh**: Heh, with Ed and Winry, the possibilities are endless. xD Thanks!

**Brickwall847**: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it so far. ;)

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**: Revenge will actually form the backbone of this fic, but that's gonna take place later on. ;)

**Inu-KagomeFan**: Thanks!

**EdxWinry**: Thanks. I'll try to get updates in quicker, but I can't guarantee that though. ;P

**Meo**: I'll reveal the man's identify later on, but for now I'll leave it up to the readers to figure out. ;) Thanks for the review!

**mustang24**: Thanks!

**Apathetic Empath2**: Thanks for the informative review! It's been a long while since I got a review like yours. Thanks. :)

Anyway, regarding the person who Winry assumed was Ed in the previous chapter, I should have added some more detail about him before actually revealing his appearance later on. I overlooked pointing out the fact that his cloak was similar in shape and structure, not necessarily color. Sorry for the confusion. ;(

As for the rest of the nightmare, I intentionally made it rather inconsistent for the purpose of making it seem fast-paced and unexplainable. I'm not too sure if I succeeded in that completely. As you pointed out, I once again didn't properly describe the scene as I should have. I'll be on the look out for those finer details. ;)

I actually have to admit that I indeed rushed Ed and Winry's relationship for the sake of keeping the story simple, though I now see the weaknesses of doing that. I was actually planning on writing a chapter that would have detailed what would have come before chapter one, but I decided to scrap it. Now that I think about it, that extra chapter would have come in handy. ;D

At first, I had thought about setting off specific times in the story by placing the time after a break in the story. It would have made more sense to leave it out in the first chapter, but now I see that timestamps are just going to get in the way later on. I guess it was a bad move to try out a new idea this early in the story. xD

That other inconsistency with the whole Rush Valley business is partially thanks to my fear of the return key. ;) You see, Pinako was the one to originally say that business was great, and she talks again after Ed's comment. If I broke those paragraphs apart, then it would have been clearer to read. Sorry bout that. :P

And finally, I don't plan on giving Al a very large role in the fic, but I should have gave him something more lengthy than just a sentence or two. He may have a more important role somewhere towards the end.

I'm actually considering someone to beta read the next chapter. Thanks for the suggestion by the way. ;)

Anyways, thanks for the great review, and hopefully I improved when writing this chapter. :)

Aight then, until next time. :P


	3. The First Sign

Man, it's been awhile. Sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter, but I was away on vacation over the past week (forgot to mention that in the last chapter ;P) so I couldn't really work on this fic.

As for future updates, I can't be sure when I'll get around to the next chapters. This is because I got to finish coding some stuff which I've been putting off for some time now, and since school starts soon.

Anyways, hopefully this chapter will make up for the wait. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 3: The First Sign

* * *

The gentle prattle of light rain on the windowsill awoke Winry to a new day. She stretched out her arms happily and snuggled further under the covers, realizing that no strange dreams haunted her last night. As Ed recommended, she kept her mind off all the events that took place over the past days, and the end result was a long awaited, peaceful night's rest. She sighed comfortably, looking forward to a great day, regardless that the weather would not be on her side once again. 

It was still quite early in the morning, therefore Winry decided to do herself a favor and sleep in. Since all of her propriety auto-mail work was very near completion, she now had some free time to spend at her will. True, Ed's auto-mail was still nowhere near done, but he said so himself that she could work on it later.

Winry allowed her mind to drift off as she enjoyed some quiet time to herself. However, she couldn't really describe her feelings at the moment with regards to the nightmares. Part of her wanted to find out who the murderer could be, though she wasn't sure if she would ever know through her nightmares alone, and the other part just wanted the dreams to end. Even though the nightmares apparently subsided for the time being, she knew that all of the incidents, including the questionable writing, that happened in the previous days were for real, meaning that she still had to be careful in case anymore suspicious activity took place.

Her mind returned to those two statements, still questioning their true purpose. She actually wasn't sure if the messages were directed specifically at _her_, but either way, they both applied to Ed and herself. Those gruesome messages told her that something was going to happen, and she had to admit that there was no excuse to believe otherwise. Winry wasn't sure what the person behind this whole situation had in mind for the two of them, but judging by fact that he went as far as leaving cryptic passages in blood told her that they were dealing with a serious madman. But whatever his plan was, Winry could only hope that Ed would be alright in the end, not caring about her own wellbeing.

However, thinking of Ed brought her to another subject of thought. She couldn't directly classify her feelings toward the alchemist as of yet, but something inside her heart told Winry that he was more than just a childhood friend. She remembered his compassion the day before when he comforted her, and she couldn't help but blush when he touched her cheek. It was almost as though another side of him had emerged that night, a side that had been locked away for years.

Through his arrogant and stubborn personality, she still saw the same fun-loving Edward that she grew up with. His obsession with alchemy, however, partially masked his once true self, but hopefully in due time, she prayed that he would return to how he used to be.

It wasn't as though she disliked the person that he had become, but she knew that Ed had a task that needed to be accomplished, and emotions would have to be put aside. Restoring the two brothers' respective bodies was obviously paramount to him, and she knew that he wouldn't give up easily. But maybe once his task was accomplished, he would return home and settle for a slightly less demanding life.

Winry actually began to wonder what would have happened if Ed wasn't crazy enough to attempt human transmutation. Well, for one thing, life would obviously be simpler for the two of them. No wild and potentially dangerous adventures, no long waits in between his visits, and a practically worry-free life were only a few of the possibilities. She wasn't sure as to why she was dwelling on the topic, but she just couldn't help imaging the serene life that she longed for.

But the longer she stayed on the topic, the more memories of that dark day somehow came flooding back to her, causing tears to form in the corners of her eyes. For a reason unknown to her, she felt a sliver of guilt when it came to that failed transmutation. If only she knew what Ed and Al were planning, if by some miracle she found out, then she could have somehow talked them out of it, thereby sparing them this morbid future. But back then, she couldn't even begin to comprehend the sheer powers of alchemy. No wonder Ed was fascinated by it, seeing that he could revive his beloved mother through the science's abilities.

The blonde mechanic immediately realized that her thinking brought her to the verge of crying, and therefore she forcibly wiped the salty tears that now threatened to escape her eyes. She mentally shook herself, casting aside the morose thoughts that seemingly overtook her mind. There was no way that she going to trouble herself today with such memories, but instead she was going to enjoy the day, one way or another. Winry was actually planning on spending most of the available time with Ed, even if it meant having to manually drag him out of his research.

At that last thought, Winry hopped out of bed with newfound energy and went ahead to dress herself for the day. The task was done in a moment's time, leaving her to see if Ed had already awaken, though she predicted that he would still be fast asleep.

"Ed, are you up yet?" Winry called out as she reached the living room. After receiving no reply, she went over to the spare bedroom that he was staying in, expecting to see him snoring away in his sleep. However, Winry was bewildered to see that Ed wasn't even in the room. She controlled herself as to not rush to negative conclusions, and instead assumed the he maybe went outside.

Upon reaching the kitchen, in hopes of getting a quick breakfast, she saw a lone piece of paper with writing on it taped to the refrigerator. Winry curiously picked it up and read it, relieved to see the sloppy writing that obviously belonged to Ed. The note was terse, but it confirmed her predictions:

_Dear Winry,_

_Went out for a walk. Back in a few minutes._

_-Ed_

Winry sighed, knowing that in Ed's world, "a few minutes" would turn out to be more like an hour or two. Now with the alchemist gone for the moment, she found herself with nothing to do. There was the option of finishing up Ed's auto-mail, but she knew that once she started working, there was no stopping her. Seeing that nothing could be done, Winry gave one more frustrated sigh and resorted to waiting for Ed.

She was heading to the living room with a thick manual on auto-mail in her hand when Den, who's presence was rather limited during the past days, came charging at her from the nearby hallway, nearly knocking the book out of the mechanic's hands.

"What's gotten into you?" Winry curiously questioned the overly energetic dog, gently petting his head. She was rather surprised to see Den this active, considering that he was usually sleeping in isolation these days.

At first, Winry assumed that he must be sick, but then again, he didn't exhibit any signs of disease. In addition to that, he would normally be pouncing all over Ed and Al when they arrived earlier in the week, but instead he slept through whole days on end. Winry was actually beginning to worry slightly about Den's phenomenally instant change in behavior, but she ultimately attributed that to the weather, which seemed to be bringing everyone's moods down.

Winry sat down on the couch and began rereading her book for the twentieth time, trying to ignore Den's obstreperous actions of apparent playfulness. Den was indeed a dog with much life, but she had never seen him _this_ active. Winry assumed that he acquired his energy as a result of the excessive sleep he received, but she couldn't help wondering if maybe there was something else going on here.

It was only a matter of time until Den's antics would start to irritate Winry, and she didn't have any clue as to how to calm him down. He obviously wasn't hungry nor thirsty, and playing with him indoors would be disastrous considering his current state. Just as Winry was mulling over possible options, Den dashed over to the back door and barked loudly several times, requesting to go outdoors. Considering that the sparse rain had faded away earlier, letting the animate dog outside would solve Winry's predicament.

'Maybe some exercise will help him relax for awhile,' Winry concluded, gladly opening the back door and allowing Den to run free for the time.

She watched the spirited Den roll around with joy in the grass, but her thoughts were abruptly disturbed when she heard the sound of something metallic hitting a wooden surface from inside the house. At first, she thought that Ed might be responsible for it, but then she remembered that he wasn't inside at the time. Naturally, she had to find out the source of that disturbance.

Knowing that Den wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Winry slowly closed the back door and returned to the kitchen, only to freeze in shock. There, lying on the large table, was the same knife that at one point was lodged in her front door. She was sure that she threw the damn thing outside the day before, but how could it get back inside the house? It became a possibility to her that the murderer might be right inside the house at this very moment waiting for his opportunity to strike, but that was a chance that she had to take.

She carefully picked up the utensil and slowly crept into the living room, holding the knife for protection. Winry knew that she shouldn't have taken it, but at least she would have some sort of defense in case the murderer was armed.

The living room itself looked exactly the way she left it, but it had lost its sense of comfort. The only source of light came from the windows, though it was limited considering that the blinds were half closed. Winry glanced around the room, trying to find anything that looked suspicious. Upon finding nothing, she continued on to the spare bedrooms.

Her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she made her way to Ed's room first. Winry knew that Ed wouldn't be too trilled to know that she was sneaking around his room, but this was for his own good. The blonde mechanic opened the door ever so slightly and peeked inside, trying to see if the murderer might be already waiting. Seeing nothing, she pushed the door open the remainder of the way and got to searching the room.

Apparently, after a few moments worth of investigation, the murderer wasn't there, nor did any of the other bedrooms yield him. The only remaining rooms were hers and Pinako's, both of which Winry hoped were unoccupied at the time. She grew more anxious as the situation progressed, especially once she reached the landing of the stairs.

Winry quietly made her way to the entrance of her bedroom. The wooden door was slightly ajar, which saved her the trouble of opening it initially. She scanned the interior of the room through the limited amount of viewing space, but froze when she saw something moving inside. Though the visibility was severely reduced, Winry could easily make out a vague, moving shadow that was being cast on her bed.

Small beads of sweat started to form on her forehead, and the blonde mechanic clutched the knife as if for dear life. She wasn't nearly as intrepid as Ed, and the fact that a potentially dangerous murderer was only a matter of feet away made opening the simple door a difficult task. Then again, the longer she delayed confronting the murderer, the longer her suffering would be.

Pure fear was coursing through her very soul, and Winry wasn't sure if she could pull through with what she wanted to do. Her own life could end if she stepped into that room, but she could also spare the lives of countless others from this crazed person. After a few seconds of debating, Winry was finally able to partially surmount her fear.

With a shaking hand, she reached out and slowly pushed the door open. Winry swallowed hard and jumped into her own bedroom, the knife held tightly in her grasp. She poised herself in a threatening manner, facing the source of the shadow, but the entire effort was for naught. There was no other human here except her; a light breeze coming out of her open window was causing the curtains on either side of it to flutter freely, which attributed to the shadow's existence.

However, one detail did manage to get itself caught by her careful eyes. Winry was _positive_ that her only window was closed when she woke up, but how did it then manage to get open? Could it be that the murderer was indeed in her room at one point, but somehow made his escape via the window? Then again, that seemed unlikely since falling a height this large would certainly not be easy on the person's legs.

It almost seemed as if question after question piled in her mind, and none of them had an obvious answer. The blood writing, the notes, and the strange events all started to become a big blur, mering into one unanswerable mystery. However, Winry didn't really care about the incidents as much compared to finding out who the person behind all this was. It was like she _needed_ to know, almost as if the murderer was trying to get her to find out. But if that was the case, then the murderer was succeeding.

While Winry was battling with her thoughts, a loud knock on the front door brought her back to reality. It was obviously Ed that was requesting entry, and it would be quite awkward for him to see her running around the house with a knife.

"One second!" Winry yelled, rushing back to the kitchen where she tossed the knife in a drawer. She wasn't going to reveal what happened during his absence in order to avoid the alchemist asking her a barrage of questions that she didn't want to answer.

"What kept you?" Ed inquired as the blonde mechanic finally opened the front door.

"I should ask you the same question," Winry replied, resisting the urge to bash him with her wrench as punishment for keeping her waiting.

Ed sighed as he took off his red coat, taking a seat on the living room couch in an exhausted manner. "Well, I wanted to think some stuff over, so I went out for awhile. That's about it."

"Oh," was all she could say, but Winry couldn't help but wonder what was on his mind. She succumbed to her curiosity, and went ahead with her interrogation, "What were you thinking about?"

The alchemist looked over at her with surprise, apparently not expecting her to pursue the subject. "I was trying to figure out exactly what's been going on here lately. I still wonder who might be responsible, but I just can't picture anyone based on what you told me last night."

Winry found it arduous to avoid mentioning the sudden appearance of that knife earlier, but she knew that eventually Ed would find out. She wasn't sure why she found it necessary to tell him, but keeping secrets just wasn't something that she liked to do.

She kept her voice low and serious as she spoke. "Ed, did you see anyone on your way back here?"

"Not anyone that I can recall. Why do you ask?"

"Because something is going on here," she continued, causing Ed to sit up from his slouching position, "Last night, when I found the note on the door, it was actually pinned with a knife. I threw that knife away outside, and today, I saw it lying on the kitchen table after I let Den play outside."

"Why didn't you tell me about it last night?" Ed questioned, perplexed at the words that he was hearing.

"I don't know," Winry replied truthfully, "I just wanted you to have a good time staying here. I didn't want to trouble you with murderers and so on." She looked away, tears once again starting to form in her eyes.

Ed was at a loss. It turned out that Winry didn't tell him everything in their discussion the night before, and this fact actually disturbed him more than the knife itself. He knew that keeping secrets would be counterproductive, but he was rather astonished that Winry didn't disclose this particular bit. He was also grateful that Winry tried to make his vacation uneventful, but hiding this sort of information was slightly over the edge.

"Winry, you need to tell me these things," he replied, hoping that Winry wouldn't condemn his own secrecy again, "I'm happy that you try to make my here time enjoyable, but this is really something that shouldn't be kept hidden. Now, is there anything else?"

His intentions were good, and Winry knew that. He wasn't trying to invade her privacy, but rather keep the two of them safe. "Yeah, there is another thing."

Ed smiled at her cooperation, and listened intently. "And what might that be?"

Winry took a deep breath and began to reveal the writing in blood. "Remember the first time I dragged you out of bed three nights ago? Well, I told you about some strange writing on my window, but you didn't see it."

Upon taking another breath to calm herself, Winry continued with her story, "It really does exist, but somehow it disappears in a few moments. And don't ask me how, it just does. Anyway, I saw that same writing again the night after that. Something was on my mind, so I went down to the living room in the middle of the night and I saw more writing on this table." She motioned with her hand to the innocent coffee table.

"What did the writing say?" Ed questioned.

"The first message said that you will be the first, probably referring to me," Winry recalled, "And the other one said that your friend will be next, which I assumed must be you."

The alchemist thought about the message, not really understanding what it was saying. The words were simple enough, but the meaning was still an enigma to him. The message could really refer to anyone, including Al and Pinako, but it really fit Winry and himself the best. If that was true, then what could the person want with the two of them?

"One more thing," Winry said, snapping Ed out of his thoughtful moment, "The messages were w-written in blood. I-I wasn't sure how, but I'm positive that it was blood."

Ed had to let her last words sink in before he finally grasped what she had said.

'In blood? But, how?' He couldn't come up with a possible way that the person achieved this, but the real question was why. _Why_ bother writing something in blood? Maybe to give a scare, but other than that, there was no reason.

Additionally, the author of the messages somehow defied the laws of physics. Being able to erase entire sentence fragments in mere seconds warranted some attention. This could actually give a clue as to who might have written those messages, since obviously not many people were able to write and erase with such unreal speed.

"Ed, you know what's going on, right?" Winry spoke up out of nowhere, startling the alchemist.

He hadn't really expected her to ask that sort of question, and he didn't want to reveal that he was clueless for Winry's sake. "Uh, not exactly. But I think I'm finally starting to figure out the person who was doing all of this." This was a lie, but Ed knew better than to sadden the poor girl even more.

"And besides, I'm-" Ed never got to finish his sentence as a piercing howl erupted near the back of the house.

Winry's face went pale as she realized that Den was still outside. "Oh God, I completely forgot about bringing Den back inside!"

Ed, upon hearing this, immediately dashed through the house and stopped right before the back door. Winry caught up in a matter of seconds, but Ed disallowed her from nearing the door.

"Winry, we don't know who we're dealing with here. Stay back for your own safety," the alchemist commanded in a serious tone. Winry didn't bother trying to argue and resorted to standing a few feet away.

For practical reasons, Ed transmuted his auto-mail arm into his trademark blade. He slowly opened the back door, chancing a peek outside. Seeing that an ambush was not in order, he swung the door open the remainder of the way, just enough for him to get a clear view of the backyard.

What he saw next completely sickened him. There on the lawn was Den, or rather what was left of him. The dog's limbs were severed completely off the body and scattered throughout the grass. The auto-mail limb, along with the other three limbs, was lying a few feet from the body. As for the body itself, a large lateral cut was made along the soft underside, exposing many of the internal organs. As a matter of fact, some of the organs were removed and carelessly thrown not far from the corpse itself. The ribs were all missing and nowhere to be found.

Den's head, which was lying near the stairs to the door, was also decapitated with its eyes gouged out and the jaw snapped off, both apparently were also nowhere near the skull. The skull itself was partially split in two, revealing parts of the brain. Den's blood was splattered all over the once green grass and against the walls of the house. But the centerpiece of this whole scene was a lone knife that was lodged into the upper skull.

Feeling himself go slightly dizzy, Ed turned around and slammed the door shut. Winry could tell that something terrible had happened, and so she dared to ask.

"Ed, what happened?"

The question was simple, but Ed somehow had lost his ability to speak. What he saw back there would undoubtedly break Winry's very heart, but he found no way to avoid telling her.

"Winry, for the love of God, don't look back there," he replied in an attempt to stall her, still feeling shaken up.

Winry didn't accept his request, and instead started heading for the closed door. She found her progress halted as Ed placed two firm hands on both of her shoulders. "What happened? Please, tell me," she pleaded softly, but the alchemist remained firm.

Ed removed his hands off her shoulders and looked at Winry with very serious, yet pain-stricken eyes. "It's Den. He's... he's dead."

His words tore directly at her soul. She just had to see for herself, refusing to believe Ed's claim at first. It couldn't be true, but then again, Ed didn't appear as though he was lying. His face was now paler than her own, and he appeared very troubled.

"H-How?" was her question.

She received no reply, and instead kept staring at Ed. He silently debated whether or not he should allow her to see the massacre, but there seemed no way to talk his way out of this one. Ed was sure that Winry wanted to see Den's corpse, and hiding whatever was left of it was not an option. In fact, it would be only a matter of time until Winry figured out for herself what truly happened.

Ed gazed at the floor, not daring to look at Winry's expression any longer. "I-I could show you, since he is your dog after all, but you w-won't like what you'll see." His voice was lifeless and quiet, which told Winry that whatever was outside must be terrible.

Winry instead kept quiet and went over to the door herself. Ed gritted his teeth and moved away so that she could have all the room that she needed. He turned himself around at the sound of the door opening, not daring to see Winry's face after what she was about to witness.

It felt like an eternity before Ed heard the door slowly close, and in turn he looked over to see Winry's reaction. However, she had her back turned toward him, but Ed could easily make out the glistening tears falling from her face. Her entire body was shaking, possibly from fear, anger, and sadness all at once.

"Winry?" he asked to see if she was alright, but she remained silent for a few more seconds. Without so much as a reply, Winry darted past him and ran the remainder of the way to her room. Ed flinched as he heard her bedroom door slam shut, understanding the pain that she must be going through.

He tried to take his mind off Winry, knowing that she needed some time alone. Instead, he turned his attention to Den's death site. As hard as it was, Ed had to do something about the gory scene. Obviously, the corpse had to be disposed of, and that was his first goal. Ed pulled out a few large bags from a nearby closet and proceeded outside.

The vile scent of flesh immediately filled his nose, and it already became physically and emotionally difficult to concentrate. Ignoring the temptations to vomit, Ed went about picking up the various portions of Den's body, placing each in a separate bag, with the exception of the auto-mail leg. When he reached the skull, which he purposely saved for last, Ed pulled out the knife and quickly examined it before stashing the the remainder of the head in the bag.

Was this the knife that Winry was talking about? Either way, he decided that it would be wise to save the thing. Besides the knife, there was another thing that bothered him about this whole incident. From the time that he heard Den's final call for help to the time that he actually reached the dead dog was no more than a minute's difference. This meant that the murderer had to initially kill Den, cut off his limbs, decapitate the head, mangle with the body, _and_ manage to get away all in about sixty seconds.

The knife itself, with its five-inch long blade, wasn't very sharp, meaning that cutting through solid bone should have taken some time. The auto-mail limb was detachable, so that saved the murderer five seconds at most. Unless this guy had superhuman strength, which was very unlikely, the murderer must have used the aid of an alibi or some kind of ability.

Ed also wondered as to why the person would go through the trouble of butchering a dog to pieces if his intentions were to kill it. A simple stab to the throat with the knife would have done the job easily, not to mention cleanly. It became apparent that the murderer was demonstrating his recklessness, and Ed was thankful that he didn't strike down a person yet.

The alchemist decided to push his theories to the back of his mind for now. He pocketed the knife and left the tied-up bags outside near the back door before returning into the house. Ed left the splattered blood for the rain to take care of, considering that the dark clouds, which replaced the previously gray ones, were about to yield rain.

Ed placed the bloodstained auto-mail leg on the living room table, knowing that Winry would probably want to keep it. The alchemist sighed, not really pleased with the way his vacation was going. Den's death really didn't affect him as much as it did to Winry. He assumed that everything he'd experienced on his journeys had somewhat lessened the shock of seeing a lifeless corpse. But then again, the passing away of a close animal would eventually swing in full force in the later months.

Winry still remained in her room, mourning the death of her beloved pet. Ed decided to check up on her, hoping that she wasn't going to fall into depression or something equally as bad. He knocked lightly on her door upon reaching it, though there was no response, however, with the exception of muffled sobs coming from the other side. Ed sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be easy, and opened the door, shutting it directly after entering.

Winry was lying curled up on her bed, facing opposite of Ed, hugging a pillow as she cried. The alchemist hated seeing her in this state, and therefore went over to her bedside. She acknowledged his presence, and made an attempt to stifle some of her tears.

"Why d-did he kill h-him?" She choked out, "D-Den never did a-anything to that guy."

"I'm not sure, but now we do know what this person is capable of," Ed replied as he sat down on edge of the bed.

The blonde mechanic sat up, still unable to quash the constant streams of tears flowing from her eyes. She finally spoke after a brief silence, "This is all my fault."

This comment caught Ed completely off guard. "Winry, don't be ridiculous! There is no way that Den's death was your fault. I mean, it's not like-"

He was interrupted by Winry as she lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his body. "Yes it is! I never should have left him alone with a lunatic killer running around!" She started crying uncontrollably into his chest, unable to suppress the feelings of guilt that had somehow fabricated themselves in her heart.

Ed was rather taken back by her sudden action, but felt sympathy towards her nonetheless. He returned the embrace, though rather hesitantly at first, disregarding the fact that hugs were not really his preference.

"Don't blame yourself. How were you supposed to know what would happen?" Ed spoke gently, running his flesh hand soothingly along her back. He knew that he wasn't very good at consoling people, but he had to at least try for Winry's sake.

"I-I just know that I could've done _something_," she replied with difficulty, holding on tighter.

The alchemist remained silent until Winry's tears subsided somewhat. "You and I both know firsthand how it feels to lose someone that you love. I know how it feels to realize that you'll never see that person alive again, nor is there anyway that they'll ever come back. You can also apply those feelings to Den, in a way."

Winry buried her face further into Ed's chest, understanding his words. "Yeah, but I just can't believe that something like this would happen. I don't see who would be cruel enough to slaughter an innocent dog," she whispered, closing her eyes slightly.

"I promise that I'll find this killer, whoever it might be," Ed replied, running a hand through Winry's hair. Though he still was rather clueless as to who was responsible for Den's untimely death, Ed was determined to make the murderer pay dearly.

To a degree, Winry felt rather satisfied that Ed wasn't going to let the murderer get away with such a crime. However, this meant that he would undoubtedly immerse himself in dangerous activities in order to hunt down Den's attacker. The last thing she wanted was for Ed to end up injured in the process.

"I'm just thankful that it wasn't you who was lying all cut-up back there," Ed said softly, resting his head on top of hers. In reality, he wasn't sure what to think if he saw Winry's body massacred in the grass. But he was sure, however, that he would spare her such a fate.

Winry sighed, knowing that Den's slaughter would spark another string of gruesome nightmares. The scene of his death would forever stay painted in her mind, no matter how badly she would like to erase it. She had to admit, however, that Ed was right; it was impossible for her to save Den.

The blonde mechanic curled up close to Ed, feeling safe in his protective arms. Outside, the foreboding clouds unleashed another wave of cold rain, washing away Den's blood. Though the dog's death would eventually be overcome, it would remain embedded in both Ed's and Winry's minds.

* * *

Bleh, you're gonna hate me for writing that. ;( Anyways, please drop a review if you have some time. ;P And of course, the reviewers: 

**Midnight Moon**: Lol, thanks!

**Hersheyz Kissez**: Thanks. :)

**EdxWinry**: Sorry for taking so long to update... again. :( Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and hopefully I'll upload the next chapter sometime before I die. xD

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**: If I told you that now, then it would give away the remainder of the plot. ;) Like I said before, it will take some time before this whole concept of revenge in this fic will be made obvious. ;P

**Brickwall847**: Heh, thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad that you like this fic so much. ;)

**tamashiix**: Thanks for the review. ;P

**Apathetic Empath2**: Lol. :P Thanks for the compliment about the previous chapter. ;)

As for the whole letter business, I agree with you about the dialogue now that I read it over. Personally, I struggle when writing those kinds of tense moments. ;)

The OOC'ness is actually going to show up a few more times throughout this fic, but not intentionally of course. The reason behind this is that I started writing tons of OOC fanfics in the past (most of them I didn't upload to this site) and now it's become one of those habits. ;P Bleh, it's hard to explain, but hopefully we'll see even less of it in the future. ;D

Once again, I thank you for reviewing. :) Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll get to answering them by the time the next chapter comes around.

**Yugata Tenshi**: Thanks for pointing out that OOC bit in the previous chapter. I'm trying to limit down on the OOC, but it's going to slip from time to time, hope you don't mind. ;) Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

And that's it for today. :) See you next chapter. 


	4. Death by Knife

I actually got this chapter done quicker than I originally thought I would. As for when the fic will end, I still estimate that another five or so chapters are in order. I'm also hoping that I will be able to finish a few of those chapters before school starts, because once it does, it's going to be pure hell for me. :P

Alrighty, enough of my blatant self-promotion. I hope you enjoy reading this installment of the fic. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 4: Death by Knife

* * *

Winry lost track of time as her mind cycled through what took place about an hour ago. She almost refused to believe that Den's murder had actually transpired, though there was obviously no denying the fact that the corpse belonged to her dog. But what really troubled the blonde mechanic was her irresponsibility. She knew that a ruthless killer was running amok, yet she underestimated his tactics. Him _massacring_ Den was something that she could never predict would happen, let alone simply killing the dog by conventional means. 

Additionally, the knife's sudden appearance was questionable. Undoubtedly, if the blade hadn't made its presence known, then Den would still be alive. But another question arose: how did it get there? She thoroughly checked all the rooms in the house shortly after the knife was placed on the table, but there appeared to be no one else in the house.

No matter what Winry came up with, there always remained one obstacle that invalidated all of her theories, and that was the murderer himself. How did he manage to get inside her house unnoticed? Certainly Ed or her would be able to figure out if a third person was inside, but no such person was to be found so far. It was obvious that this was no run-of-the-mill killer; this guy couldn't be doing all of this by his own means. Alchemy was a possibility, but from the limited knowledge that she had, Winry knew that alchemy would be easy to point out if someone was using it.

Winry's mind drifted back to the events that took place right before she closed the door leading to the backyard. The front door was securely locked, and every window was closed. The only means of entry into the house were through the back door itself, which at the time was already being supervised. But the open window in her bedroom caused Winry to shiver slightly from fear. If she thought logically about the situation, then there was only one sensible conclusion: the killer must already be inside the house.

"Ed, I think I know where the murderer is," Winry whispered to the alchemist, feeling his arms hold her tighter.

"I figured the same," he replied, "This guy must be someone close to you, or at least someone that you trust. In this sense, he must be hiding somewhere in this town."

This wasn't what Winry had in mind, but Ed did bring up a valid point. It was beyond the reason of doubt that neither Al nor Pinako were responsible, but who then? Maybe someone from the military, but then again, she knew only a limited amount of people from that department.

Winry decided to present her idea. "Actually, what I meant was that the murderer is already _inside_ this house. He could be hiding right now, just waiting for us to drop our guard."

Ed actually hadn't thought of that possibility initially. It seemed improbable that the person in question was indeed concealing himself right under their noses, considering that the only time that he could move about freely was during the night. However, the more Ed thought about it, the more sensible it seemed. Perhaps the murderer knew beforehand that the best hiding place would be inside his target's own home.

This troubled Ed greatly. If what Winry said was true, then committing another murder would be a simple task, considering that his greatest obstacle, which was to actually enter the house, had already been cleared. It became apparent that the best time for him to strike would be during the nighttime, or until both of them were asleep and defenseless. As a matter of fact, their safety would be in jeopardy if they were even so much as separated.

Quite obviously, Winry would be his first target. Considering that she was unarmed most of the time, the murderer would face little resistance, making for an easy kill. Ed himself could transmute his auto-mail, providing a source defense, but Winry had nothing except her trusty wrench, which wouldn't really help if the murderer was armed with a gun or any other projectile weapon.

Another option was to leave this house altogether and lodge elsewhere, but this would drag more people into danger. By killing Den, the murderer proved that he would stop at nothing until his goal was accomplished, even if that meant having to annihilate other humans. As much as Ed wanted to keep Winry safe, he knew that they would have to remain here.

"You're probably right, Winry," Ed admitted, not willing to put her at risk by assuming that the killer wasn't present already, "The last time that I took something for granted, something close to the both of us was killed."

Winry broke the embrace after what felt like hours, repositioning herself to sit on the bed's edge. "I don't know if I'll ever get over his death," she said quietly, reminiscing her last moments with the dog.

"If it helps, I saved Den's auto-mail leg for you," the alchemist said, trying to find a way to cheer up his best friend.

A small smile formed on Winry's face upon hearing this. It wasn't much, but at least she would have something to remember him by. "Thanks," was her reply, grateful for Ed's action.

He gave a light smile and nodded in response. "Anyway, I'm going to check out the situation in the backyard. If you want some time alone, then I'll understand," Ed said, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Maybe a few minutes, but I'll be fine," Winry said, giving Ed a reassuring smile as he left her room.

Frankly, she felt much better now. Even though Den's death still lingered on her mind, at least he could now rest peacefully for all eternity, safe from lunatic murderers and those wishing harm. However, Winry knew that she would have to be very careful now, lest the murderer already had death in store for her.

On a lighter note, Ed's hospitality towards her was something that merited recognition. True, he was being a good friend by comforting her, but this was a first. Usually he left her alone to sort out her emotions whenever she cried as a result of a tragic event, which somehow made her frustrated with his stupidity. As a matter of fact, what happened to the hot-headed, persistent, yet lovable jerk that she had grown accustomed to? Whatever the reason, she was overly grateful that he had gone that extra step this time in order to secure her sense of comfort.

Shaking off the brilliant blush on her face, Winry made the choice to move on with the day. The first order of business was to check out Den's auto-mail leg that Ed saved, which Winry assumed must be dirtied and damaged. Upon reaching the living room, she noticed the bloody, metallic leg lying on the table. Winry carefully picked it up, as not to lacerate the delicate metal in case it was already weaken, and headed to the kitchen sink.

"So, what are you going to do with that?" Ed asked as he appeared behind her, apparently wet from the now waning rain.

"Probably I'll wrap it up and put it somewhere safe. It's really the only thing that will remind me of him," Winry said rather sadly as she gently cleaned the grime off of the metal.

Ed nodded, and headed away to dry himself. Winry actually wondered what he did with the body, but decided to hold off on the question until a more appropriate time. In fact, a proper burial should be done, but she wasn't exactly sure as to how it would be accomplished considering Den's torn state.

The blond mechanic actually was glad that Pinako and Al weren't present, and she was sure that Ed agreed on this matter. She wasn't certain, however, as to how they would break the news to the elderly woman, but eventually it would have to be done, somehow. Al, on the other hand, probably wouldn't take it as badly, but it still would be hard on the two of them nonetheless.

After Winry was satisfied with the cleaning, she wrapped the metal limb in a towel and left it to dry near the sink. For some reason that was beyond her, Winry actually felt exhausted, even though she got adequate sleep last night . Maybe it was because of the day's unfortunate turnout, but whatever the cause, she knew that she needed to rest. A quick nap would easily rejuvenate her lost energy, and that was exactly what she planned to do.

Upon walking back into the living room, bound to relax on the couch, Winry discovered that Ed had beaten her to the spot. He was already lying around on the furniture in a lazy manner, with his eyes half-closed and his limbs sprawled out. The alchemist seemed to acknowledge her presence, and so he sat up to look at her.

"If you want to lie down here, then all you have to do is tell me," he said after noticing her tired state, standing up and offering his place before she even replied.

Winry smiled and gave an affirmative nod. "I guess that after what happened today, I'm just out of energy," the mechanic said as she curled up on the snug couch.

"I don't blame you," Ed said as he placed a blanket over her, "Oh, and don't worry about the murderer; I'll be watching out for him."

The blonde mechanic gave him a soft smile to show her gratitude. She watched as Ed pulled out a book, undoubtedly something related to alchemy, and retreated to a nearby chair. With Ed watching over her, Winry's final fears of being attacked were decimated. Her eyelids slowly drooped down; the gentle sound of the rain lulling her to sleep.

* * *

Winry found herself in a small room with a single, closed door in front of her, devoid of any furniture. Above her hung a lone light bulb, which was already turned on and shining freely. Judging from this room's contents, which consisted of a broom and other household products, she could safely predict that she was in a closet of some sort. She didn't know how or why she was here, but Winry could safely conclude that this wasn't her house anymore. 

She pushed the plain, wooden door open, revealing that she was in a residential home. Directly across from the closet that she was in previously was the merged living and dining room. It resembled her house, with the exception of differences in furniture and overall structure. By looking out of the large window that was located on the far side of the room, Winry saw that the sun was setting and dusk was close at hand.

The blonde mechanic assumed that someone still lived here, and so she decided to make her presence known, just in case the owner thought that she was trespassing. However, Winry couldn't help but wonder why this place felt so familiar.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out, but her question was answered in a different way.

A series of mortifying screams suddenly overtook the entire building, and the sounds of a struggle could be distinguished. The yelling seemed to be coming from a young female, but the actual scream was that of pain. Winry couldn't directly figure out where this person was, but the victim had to be nearby judging from the volume of the screams.

Though most of the commotion was muffled and incoherent, Winry was able to pick up certain fragments. One plea, however, was clear enough to be understood, "Leave me alone! Somebody, please help me!"

It occurred to Winry that the person was being tortured. She knew that it would be best to help this woman, but she stood paralyzed with fear. The blonde mechanic wasn't sure if she should aid the victim herself, or go get help before doing so. But then again, this person was being brutally beaten up, and Winry couldn't estimate how much longer she would last.

However, the blood-curdling pleas for help halted just as soon as they had started. Winry wasn't sure if the person was dead, or if she had survived the attack, but now was her chance to assist the victim. Winry entered another hallway through a different door located in the same room, which brought her to a ghastly scene.

She now stood in a rather narrow hallway, with closed doors that led to other rooms located on each side. The hallway's walls were splattered with oozing blood, and a series of red pools was all over the floor. By closely examining the floor itself, Winry could make out two pairs of bloody footprints that formed a messy trail across the hallway and into another room towards the end. Several glass picture frames that once hung from the walls were smashed, and the crystal slivers were sparsely distributed throughout the mess of blood.

Winry cautiously began making her way through the horrific scene, careful to avoid stepping on the many splinters of glass. The lighting was poor in this area, considering that the lights on the ceiling were also destroyed along with the absence of any windows. Upon reaching the end of the hallway, Winry turned into another room in accordance with the trail of red liquid.

She found herself in another medium sized room, which appeared to be the kitchen. The continuous trail of blood was heading right across this room and into yet another hallway, this time with the addition of what appeared to be pieces of human flesh that were left behind in the red liquid. There was also a fairly large dinner table turned upside-down in the center, along with a few broken chairs. Several drawers near the sink were open, with various items, ranging from spoons to rubber gloves, thrown around carelessly on the floor. However, a rather suspicious assortment of knives also was to be found near the blood.

The blonde mechanic found herself shaking with unease, hoping that she wouldn't encounter the same murderer that she pictured a few nights before. As Winry arrived in the new hallway, which was considerably shorter than the previous, she noticed a flickering light coming from a room that was all the way at the end. The amount of blood here had increased, possibility as a result of the victim's last attempt at an escape.

Winry proceeded slowly, just in case there was a surprise planned for her by the person responsible for this mess. The musty smell of the blood, however, was starting to get to Winry's mind, causing her to lose concentration. She actually wasn't sure what propelled her to go through with this, knowing that courage was unfortunately not one of her finer qualities. Either way, she had gone too far to back out now; the victim's life was far too important to ignore.

As she forged further down the gloomy hallway, Winry started to develop a feeling of anxiety. She knew that there were at least two other people in this house, and one of them was probably armed and lusting for yet another kill. At this point, she wasn't exactly sure as to where the attacker might be at this very moment, but this hallway was a dead end, meaning that she would have seen him or her by now if an escape was planned.

The soft sound of flowing water could be heard as Winry neared the target room. Indeed, the blood on the floor was mixing itself in the excess water, though she couldn't quite figure out how the water got there in the first place.

Winry slowly entered the room, but she was far from pleased with the sight. It turned out that this was the house's bathroom, and the sound of water could be traced to the high tub that was located in the corner. The entire tile floor, as well as portions of the bathtub, was stained with thick blood. Through the opaque shower curtain, Winry could barely make out the figure of a person floating in the overflowing bathtub. What troubled her more, however, was that the water spilling over from the tub contained a faint red hue.

The blonde mechanic felt her stomach churning, partially from anticipation and nausea. She wanted to know who was floating in the tub, but the constant sight of gore was taking its toll on her sanity. That damn light bulb that hung from above, which flickered on and off at two second intervals, only added to the atmosphere in this room. Winry desperately wanted just to get out, but her curiosity was starting to get the better of her.

Almost involuntarily, she began making her way closer to the closed shower curtain. Winry could have sworn that something had taken control of her, considering that her mind was demanding her to stop, but her legs kept moving. When she was about a foot from the tub, Winry raised a trembling hand and grabbed a bunch of the curtain. With one swift motion, she tore the curtain open, revealing a grizzly spectacle.

It turned out that the water in the tub was actually blood, though by now it had been greatly diluted. Barely floating in this mess was a lifeless human body, belonging to a young female with long brown hair, possibility in her mid-teens, just as Winry predicted. The dead corpse, which was facing downward into the tub, was clad in a dark shirt and green skirt, though the colors of the clothing had been altered by the crimson solution. The back of the body was littered by dozens of open knife wounds, which apparently served as the source of all the blood.

Winry gave a piercing scream and retreated into a wall, opposite of the tub. It was all she could do to not to vomit, but she was unable to suppress the qualms of sickness that overtook her. As the contents of her stomach emptied onto the floor, the blonde mechanic knew that she had to leave this place at once. She had absorbed far too much horrors and sickening images, enough to emotionally scar her.

After feeling herself recover, Winry began making her way out of the bathroom, but she immediately froze when the sound of steady footsteps in the hallway had emerged. The attacker couldn't have picked a better time if he or she planned to strike, considering that Winry was now at a dead-end.

At this moment, she was sick and weak, and not really up for a chase. Winry couldn't remain in this gory room any longer, but running out into the hallway could have equally as bad consequences. Then again, she would have a better chance if she got herself out of this room first, eliminating the attacker's opportunity to trap her. Upon taking a deep breath, Winry dashed out of the bathroom and sprinted down the hallway, barely managing to keep her balance.

She felt her arm brush past something, or rather someone, as she ran in the now dark corridor, hoping that it wasn't the attacker. Winry wasn't entirely sure where she was heading, but at least she wasn't near any blood right now. However, the sound of the footsteps had returned from behind her, and Winry didn't dare stop running now. The strange thing was that the footsteps were rather casual, but somehow, they were able to keep up with her dashing speed.

Winry realized her first fatal mistake when she unintentionally ran into a secluded room, an action that she wouldn't have done had the lighting in the house been adequate. In fact, perhaps night had already come, considering that the sky outside appeared dark from the only window in this room. But right now, time was the last of Winry's worries; the footsteps were getting louder and louder with each passing second.

Perhaps the person that was following her wouldn't see her hiding here, but Winry's hopes were shattered as a figure of a broad man appeared in the door frame opposite to her. Using whatever little light she had, Winry was able to determine that this was indeed the same person that she saw in her previous nightmares. Just like before, his face was cloaked by the black velvet darkness that seemed to control the room.

Dozens of things were running through Winry's mind right now, ranging from whether or not she would live to this person's real identify. Her thoughts were quickly diverted to the glistening knife, possibly the one that pinned the note to her front door, that the murderer clutched in his left hand. Winry was additionally shocked to realize that this person also held a suspiciously familiar pistol in his other hand, exactly the same one that she witnessed in previous nightmares.

She flinched when the man raised his knife-bearing hand, but his intention wasn't to strike a blow. Instead, a bloodstained, silver pocket watch dangled from his outstretched hand, close enough for Winry to identify it as the same one that Ed carried around.

"T-That can't be Ed's watch! He a-always carries it w-with him!" Winry choked out in desperation, hoping that this man was trying to deceive her. Judging from the crimson stains on the the once clean surface of the watch, Winry could easily tell that there was a struggle in order to obtain it.

The murderer seemed to be one step ahead of her. He retracted his hand, and slipped the knife beneath the lid of the watch, thereby opening it with a snap. Winry wasn't sure what he was trying to prove by doing this, but she quickly found out when the man once again showed her the watch, this time with the inside of the lid facing towards her.

She gasped in disbelief upon seeing the familiar engraving of a certain date in the silver. It turned out that this guy wasn't lying; he indeed possessed Ed's treasured watch. Winry felt tears slide down her face, not knowing about her best friend's wellbeing. What if the murderer had injured him in the process? Or worse, he could have downright killed Ed, something which Winry didn't dare to think about.

"What do y-you want with us?" Winry demanded, fighting back a powerful urge to burst out crying. As a result of his actions, she actually abhorred this person more than ever. "W-We never even did anything to you!"

The man didn't respond. Somehow, the blonde mechanic knew that she wasn't going to get any information from this guy by directly questioning him. Her eyes widened, however, when he tossed the watch over his back and started proceeding towards her. Winry was too afraid to make a defensive move, and instead remained deadlocked in this situation.

Without any further warning, the murderer brandished his knife and continued advancing onto her.

"ED!" Winry screamed out as a last act of desperation, right before the murderer brought the weapon down on her with no mercy.

* * *

Winry bolted up, looking around to orient herself once again. The first sight she noticed was that of two golden eyes, full of concern, staring at her from above. 

"E-Ed?" she barely said, still slightly unsure of what had previously taken place.

The alchemist already seemed to know what went on. "Had another dream?" he inquired, seeing tiny drops of sweat forming on Winry's forehead. Her face was pale, and she was shaking slightly.

"Yes, and another person died in it," she replied quietly, attempting to relax her worried state.

Ed sighed as he sat down near her. By now, he knew that Winry's strange dreams had somehow predicted a situation before it happened, and this might the case as well for this dream. If a person's life was indeed at stake, perhaps he could interlude somehow and manage to save that victim. But this all depended on whether or not he could figure out who that victim might be.

"Winry, do you know who the victim was?" He deliberately spoke in a soft tone in order to avoid pressuring the shaken girl.

She took a moment before answering, trying to recollect her dream, "No, but I know that it was a girl, probably around my age. I think she had brown hair, but I can't be sure. But this dream was a little different from the other two, though."

Ed looked at her, slightly confused. "Really? In what way?"

"Well, I found myself in someone else's house, instead of my own like before," Winry retold, trying her hardest to maintain the details from the dream, "But the thing was, I felt like I've been in that place once. It all seemed so familiar, but I'm not exactly sure why."

This actually put the alchemist in a worse position than before. There was no denying the fact that someone was going to die, but at least the envisioned person wasn't one of the two. However, what if this person was a close friend? Considering that Winry seemed to vaguely remember her surroundings, Ed figured that the person must be someone that Winry visited at one point. The real problem, however, was that this whole murder situation could eventually grow into a much larger one, possibly big enough to attract the attention of the military.

Ed personally preferred that the military stayed away from this case. Sure, he could enlist the help of other officers in order to track down this bloodthirsty killer, but that would only amplify the situation's exposure to the public. He already suspected that the people of Risembool wouldn't be pleased with the presence of the military in their serene town, let alone the fact that a serial killer was walking unchecked amongst them.

However, there remained one question in Ed's mind that he just had to ask. "In your dream, did you see who the killer was?"

Winry closed her eyes, attempting to remember whatever detail about the man she observed, but she was fighting a losing battle. "He looked exactly like before, and I still couldn't see his face clearly. But this time, he brought a knife along with his gun."

"A knife? You mean, the one that you told me about?" Ed questioned, taking out the stained knife from his pocket.

"Maybe, but it looked similar to it," she replied, staring at the weapon with surveying eyes. In reality, she wasn't sure at all of the two knives bore any relation, but it seemed logical to believe the assumption was true.

To Ed, this was enough evidence. "In that case, I think we should hide this thing before that guy causes more damage with it," the alchemist said, standing up and proceeding to the back door of the house with Winry in close pursuit.

"Where are you going to put it?" the blonde mechanic questioned, unsure of a safe location to conceal the weapon.

"Right under the stairs," he replied, opening the door and stepping outside. The previous rain has lightened to a mere drizzle, allowing the two to walk outdoors without getting totally soaked.

Ed pulled out a piece of black cloth from his pocket and carefully wrapped the knife in it, placing it securely under the wooden stairs that led from the house and into the backyard. "This should be the last place he'll think of looking for it."

Winry was pleased with Ed's choice of a hiding spot. Considering that the killer made his first murder in this location, it seemed unlikely that he would return in search of his weapon here.

"Just one more thing, Winry," the alchemist said, standing up and testing out the location of the hidden weapon, "You must keep the back door locked whenever you can. In case the murderer does recover the knife, at least he won't be able to come inside easily."

She put on a smile to show her understanding, but it didn't last too long. Winry noticed a collection of ebon bags sitting near the corner of the house, which she assumed was where Den's body could be found. Also, though it was now difficult to distinguish, there remained spots of faint crimson puddles in the grass, and the mechanic already knew the reason behind their coloring.

Ed noticed that Winry was looking around with a falling spirit, therefore he decided to finish up his surveillance of the hidden knife. He ushered her back inside the building as he gave one last glance at the backyard scene.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that," Ed apologized, referring to the bags that contained Den's mutilated body.

"It's ok, besides, I had to see how you cleaned up the mess," she said with a rather forced smile, trying to lift the mood.

Ed sighed, not buying her false sense of security. "Look Winry, I'm going to need for you to be strong. We'll get through this, but only if the both us don't give in to fear, which is what that killer wants us to do," the alchemist said in a gentle tone, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I'll try," Winry replied simply, feeling a blush starting to make itself visible on her face, "But are you sure that the killer won't find the knife?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Ed said, hastily retracting his hand in an attempt to cover up the bit of crimson that lit up his face as well.

Though this cheered Winry up, the alchemist knew that his plan to hide the weapon wasn't absolutely foolproof. As a matter of fact, he had this very slight feeling that maybe he was being watched the whole time as he concealed the knife, but Ed tried to shake the idea, seeing it as impossible. Well, maybe it was impossible given the circumstances, but there was always the chance the murderer was close at hand, where ever that location might be.

It then occurred to Ed that maybe the killer was hiding himself somewhere nearby, possibly even right outside the house, waiting for that certain opportunity to strike. An opportunity when Winry and himself were defenseless; a time when the last thing that he would ever think about was the murderer himself.

That couldn't be the case, but what if it was?

* * *

And so there you have it. :D I'm going to try to lay off the gore for awhile, but if you know me, then you know that I downright enjoy writing it. xD Heh, stay tuned for more. 

As always, time to recognize the reviewers:

**Fanactic**: I think that I actually overdid Den's rather painful death, judging from the reviews. ;P But anyway, thanks for reading!

**moonlightpath**: Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you enjoy this fic so much. :)

**xMeo**: It seems that my fixation for detail has paid off. ;P As before, thanks for reviewing.

**f-zelda**: Thanks for reviewing. :P

**Brickwall847**: Lol, thanks for the compliment, and the review!

**Nirvana of the Undead**: Thanks!

**crazyanimefreak15**: Heh, I actually planned to avoid writing any death/suspense stuff in this fic, but apparently, it's working well. ;P Thanks for reading and reviewing.

**tamashiix**: I'll make sure to actually finish a multi-chapter story for once, and this being it. ;) Thanks for reviewing.

**Yugata Tenshi**: You'll find out eventually, but just not yet. ;) Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

And an additional thanks to anyone else who reads this fic. :D See ya next chapter. 


	5. Confrontation

I'm back with a new chapter for your reading pleasure. :P I'd like to take this time to thank everybody who read the previous chapter, especially those who reviewed. I'm eternally grateful. O.O

Hopefully, I'll be able to sneak in at least one more chapter right before school starts next week (damn -.-), but that all depends if time is my side, and if I can control my crazy addiction to online games. ;P Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 5: Confrontation

* * *

The situation, with regards to the unknown murderer, was grim. There Ed stood, right before the girl who's dreams had successfully predicted multiple events, still stuck without a clue as to the identity of the next victim. However, there remained one issue that he still couldn't figure out. All three of Winry's dreams ended with the murderer killing the two of them, but they were both physically unharmed as of yet. Perhaps it was meant to be taken as a warning to be cautious, but Ed couldn't be sure. 

The alchemist now knew, however, that the murderer was trying to exploit their emotions through the massacring of loved ones. Until he felt that his targets were weak enough, it would be safe to assume that he would keep on slaughtering people continuously. But so far, the murderer's success was largely based upon the actual kills, that is, in terms of the amount of bloodshed. After all, what better way is there to mentally crumble your opponent than to force them to witness gruesome deaths, especially when people close to that person are the subjects?

But Ed had now set his sights on protecting both Winry and the murderer's next target. In order for that to work, he would need to figure out as much as possible about the oblivious victim beforehand. In that sense, he would have to ask Winry to retell her dream as specifically as possible, though he knew that it wouldn't be easy for her.

"Winry, I have to ask you to do something important for me," Ed said in a serious tone, guiding the blonde mechanic back into the nearby kitchen.

Though she couldn't be sure, Winry had already somehow knew that his inquiry would involve her previous dream. "I'm assuming that it has to do with the dream I had earlier, right?"

"Yeah, and I know this may seem crazy, but I need you to retell me that dream," the alchemist said, sitting himself down in a chair near the kitchen table, "And I need you to include specific details; anything that might give me a lead."

Winry sighed as she sat opposite of Ed, having already forgotten most of the dream's finer points. However, hopefully she still remembered enough to help her best friend out to some degree. She wasn't exactly sure what details Ed was looking for in particular; perhaps a description of the house's interior, or maybe any characteristically unique article that would distinguish that building from the others. Well, whatever it may be, Winry was bound on sharing the entire dream, in hopes that perhaps Ed might just be able to save that envisioned girl.

All through Winry's conscientious recollection of her previous dream, Ed listened vigilantly in order to pick up any fragment that may reveal the future victim of the murderer's next plot, but no such detail came about. Sure, plenty of description was provided, though most of it was useless since any house in Risembool, or any other town for that matter, could match the credentials.

Even though it seemed for naught, the retelling of the dream still left Ed with the only possible clue: the description of the girl herself, but now Winry had assiduously attempted to recover a better portrayal of her. Apart from the clothing, the key trait was the girl's brown hair, but that in itself wouldn't be too helpful; Ed knew a myriad of females with that same trait that he could classify as a friend, not to mention Winry's companions.

Ed also remembered when Winry mentioned that this dream was different from the others, and now he understood why. At first, he assumed that the murderer only eradicated his targets by means of a firearm, but now he demonstrated that a knife will do just as well. This obviously made him all the more dangerous, seeing that he had a backup weapon, and the fact that the victim wouldn't be able to tell which of the two he would use.

Besides that, what Winry said about the murderer holding Ed's bloodstained watch deeply disturbed the alchemist. Ed believed it as impossible that the killer would acquire the silver pocket watch, considering that it was always with him. Yet, if there was blood on it, then it seemed logical that a fight must have taken place before; a fight in which Ed himself apparently didn't survive, or at least was too wounded to chase after the criminal.

As an uncomfortable silence had settled between them, Winry began to feel that she didn't provide any help whatsoever, judging from the fact that Ed was still deep in thought. "I'm sorry, Ed, but I just can't remember anything other than what I said," she apologized, staring at the table miserably.

The alchemist sighed in defeat, giving up on the cryptic dream. "Ah, don't worry about it. Even if you explained it any better, there is a very low chance that I'll actually be able to find the right house, not to mention that we don't know _when_ he'll strike."

"But there is one thing that I don't understand, though. Why won't you bring in the military to check this out?" Winry proposed, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing to do, "I mean, you are putting yourself in danger just to keep us safe."

Ed could tell that she was dying to ask that question, and so he presented his side of the argument. "I gave it a thought, but it would be better if the military stayed far away from his whole case."

"But, you can find that guy quicker, not to mention that you'll save yourself a lot of work," she replied, apparently not convinced.

"Well, yeah, but do you want to see soldiers swarming the streets?" Ed inquired rhetorically, "Believe me, I know what they are capable of." Indeed, the alchemist remembered the ruthless tactics of the military during the destruction of Ishbal, as well as certain other instances.

The negative aspects of the bargain severely outweighed the good, and Winry now understood that. It wasn't worth sacrificing the peace of the entire town, and maybe even the surrounding areas, just to capture one person, but letting him roam free wasn't a preferable option either.

"I see what you mean, but we can't just let that guy keep killing people!" Winry said in a tone that demoted pure hatred, directed at the criminal himself.

"I'm already aware, and that's why I promise that I'll alert the local authorities here if I can't stop anymore murders," Ed said, silently hoping that maybe the killer would halt his campaign of terror, however unlikely that seemed.

At first thought, that appeared like a good idea, but what if Ed couldn't intervene and stop another kill, like he had said? This meant that another person would die, and the murderer would most likely get away with it, but not without attracting some attention from the people. To kill an animal is one thing, but to kill a person is much more serious, and the public would probably be pressing for answers.

There was another thing bothering Winry at the moment, and that was her presence near Ed. It appeared that the murderer was targeting them both, and when they were in a group, it only made it easier for him to slaughter the two of them. It made sense that if they were separated, then the killer would have a much more difficult time trying to accomplish his goal. This was actually quite the reverse of what Ed had theorized some time before.

Winry thought that this would be a wise move, and so she shared her idea with the alchemist. "Ed, the murderer is trying to kill us both, right? Well, what if I stay somewhere else, maybe in under the watch of the military. That way, you won't have to risk your life trying to protect me."

The alchemist gave it thought. True, Winry would be safe in the military, and that would make it easier for him to track down the killer without having to worry about her getting hurt. It all seemed well, until Ed remembered that Scar was still at large. If he could capture Winry, which seemed quite possible during these times, then he probably would cause her harm in order to get back at him.

It was a risk that the alchemist wasn't going to take. Winry was no safer with him, but at least he could personally watch over her instead of having to rely on a third party. Hell, some of the corrupt, higher ranking officers would probably just take her in for interrogation, in an attempt to worm out information about anything related to matters that were against the law to mention, such as the Philosopher's Stone, for example. Even though Winry wasn't really proficient in those fields, the officers would eventually find a way to get that information out of Ed himself through her.

"I appreciate you trying to help me out, but that would only put you in greater danger," Ed explained, much to Winry's disappointment, "To put it lightly, I don't trust certain people military; some of them have bad intentions."

"But I'm just being a burden for you!" Winry countered, seemingly out of options, "I don't know how you will ever catch this lunatic if you have to worry about me all the time!"

Ed shook his head in disapproval. "I rather see you alive than butchered up somewhere," he said, giving Winry a humorless look, "No matter what you think, you aren't a burden. Besides, I'd never forgive myself if something was to happen to you." He knew that this sounded rather slapdash, but at least he was honest.

Winry sighed, realizing that she was being selfish. Ed only wanted her to be safe, yet she took his hospitality as something completely opposite. Then again, it did feel nice to know that he wouldn't let her get in harm's way, though she already knew that fact.

"Just please, don't get yourself injured over me," Winry pleaded in a whisper, her eyes drifting down towards the wooden table. For some reason, Winry could have sworn that she already had a conversation similar to this one with Ed not long before.

The alchemist couldn't help but grin lightly at her. "You know that I can't keep myself out of danger, but like I've said before, I'll try to stay safe."

The blonde mechanic quietly responded with a faint smile of her own. It was really an awkward moment; none of the two teens had anything to say, hence they weren't in the mood to talk about anymore negative thoughts. Indeed, the silence was becoming rather uncomfortable once again, but it was ended rather hastily.

Muffled yelling penetrated the once calm atmosphere outside, but the sounds were of alarm rather than joy. As a matter of fact, the commotion had been going on earlier, but now it seemed to have gained some attention as more people joined in. Since their voices were incoherent, neither Ed nor Winry could really get a general idea of what was going on. However, what if something serious afoot; something involving the murderer?

Not being able to stand the anticipation, Ed stood up and started heading for the front door. Upon opening the wooden barrier, he discovered that sparse groups of people, obviously residents of Risembool, were making their way down the road directly ahead of him.

Winry showed up next to the alchemist not much later. "What's going on, Ed?" she inquired, unsure of the situation.

"No idea, but I'm going to find out," Ed replied, trying to signal down someone so he could get some information out of them. He managed to get the attention a pair of elderly women, both of them already engaged in deep conversation.

Though it was hard to be patient at a time like this, Ed tried his best to sound polite. "Excuse me, but where is everyone going? And what's with all the yelling?" This sounded rather hasty, but it would do.

"From what we heard, someone was killed nearby," one of the women said, looking greatly saddened.

The alchemist felt the color drain out of his face; it seemed that he was too late. "Do you who it was?"

"Oh yes, I believe it was that girl, Nellie," the other woman said with a depressed sigh, "Poor thing, too. Someone said that she was attacked and severely tortured in her own house." With a shaking voice, the alchemist thanked them and the pair set off.

It was then that Ed finally figured out the victim. The image of the person floating lifelessly in the tub came to him, and the brown hair now made sense. How could be not identify Nellie before? But now that he thought about it, she was a close friend, and her death would be something that the killer sought after.

"N-Nellie is dead?" Winry barely choked out, almost not believing what she just heard.

Ed shook himself from the initial shock, though he wished that he misunderstood the women. The only thing that he could do now was to verify this. "I don't believe it either. Come on, we have to see this for ourselves."

And with that, both Winry and himself dashed to Nellie's home, in hopes that she was still alive. They completely forgot about securing their own house beforehand, but right now, that seemed out of the question. Ed could only pray that there might still be a very slight chance to rescue Nellie from her doomed fate, but that all depended on whether or not she had already succumbed to the murderer.

Upon reaching their friend's house, Ed and Winry discovered that a fairly good amount of people, about twenty or so, had already assembled. However, the front door of the building was still closed, and none of the people appeared as if they would be going inside anytime soon.

Well, if no one was going to be brave enough to enter, then Ed took it upon himself to check out the situation. "Winry, stay here. I'm going to see if Nellie is still alive in there," he told the blonde mechanic.

"But I want to come with you! Nellie is also my friend, and I worry about her, too," Winry argued, but Ed remained firm.

"You'll be safer out here in the crowd," he countered, "Besides, what if that killer is still inside?"

Winry sighed, knowing that this was another one of those arguments that she wouldn't be victorious in. "Fine, but please try to save her, if you can," she requested, hopeful that her friend still had a chance.

Ed nodded, and worked his way through the crowd. Several people voiced their concerns, claiming that the police should take care of this situation, but he paid them no mind. He was a State Alchemist after all, so this seemed like the perfect time to use his status to his advantage.

"I'm doing this for your own good!" Ed called out, trying to calm the people somewhat, "I'll make sure that the house is clear, in case someone dangerous is hiding there. And above all, don't follow me inside."

His short speech settled the group down, and he was pleased that at least he managed to achieve that much. But just as a safety precaution, Ed transmuted his auto-mail arm before allowing himself inside through the unlocked front door.

The house reeked with the stench of blood, and the alchemist knew that this was the work of the murderer. In Winry's dream, Nellie was supposedly killed and left for dead in the bathroom, so naturally, that where she must be now. Not only that, but the killer still must be inside considering that he would have been spotted by the people if he fled the scene. If that was the case, then this would be Ed's rare chance to confront him and hopefully bring him to justice, thus ending anymore killing sprees.

As Ed made his way through the gory hallways and rooms, he was rather surprised to find out that each scene matched that of Winry's dream, right down to the broken picture frames in the main hallway. With the exception of Den's massacre, Ed hadn't seen so much horrific displays of inhumanity in a long time. Everything that he saw inside the house had a direct correlation with the images from the dream, and soon enough, he would find out if Nellie was dead or alive.

Sure enough, the soft sound of water could be heard when Ed rounded the kitchen and entered the narrow corridor that terminated with the bathroom. According to the dream, this should be the part where he hopefully would get to confront the murderer, and it made him all the more anxious. He had to be ready for anything, including a possible ambush that may await him.

Ed slowly made his way up the corridor, the transmuted blade held in a defensive position. His footsteps emitted sickening sounds as they made contact with the mixture of flesh, blood, and water on the floor, but the alchemist tried to ignore them. On several occasions, Ed actually had to look over his shoulder to make sure that no one was following him, but he harbored that familiar feeling of paranoia. It was actually starting to become irritating, seeing that Ed kept half of his mind on the task at hand and the other on the whereabouts of the murderer.

It felt like an eon had passed before he reached the open doorway that led into the bathroom. Taking one more glance down the hallway, Ed slipped into the target room, only to discover that Winry's dream had unfortunately come true. The scene directly mirrored that of what his best friend saw, and the only thing left to do was to slide open the shower curtain and reveal the injured victim on the other side.

The tension was building as the alchemist crossed the remaining few feet between him and the concealed bathtub, but he hesitated before opening the curtain. It seemed as if all of his courage had been drained out, and instead replaced by an unpleasant mixture of fear and anticipation. For some reason, he made it fine through the house, but something was holding him back from seeing Nellie's fate. Wasn't this partially what he came for? Then why couldn't he just tear the damned curtain open?

His flesh arm was trembling as he reached out and grabbed a handful of the slick fabric, but that was as far as he could bring himself. Winry somehow was able to do this, yet he couldn't. But then again, there is a difference between a situation in a nightmare and it's real-life counterpart, and emotions are only one major factor. However, delaying wouldn't do him much justice, either.

Ed took a deep breath, and braced himself for what he was about to see. With a determined motion of his arm, the shower curtain was now compressed at one end of the tub, leaving the scene open to view. The alchemist recoiled in fear after seeing the initial corpse floating lifelessly in a pool of red. He now understood what Winry must have went through, including the feeling of pure fright coursing through every vein in his body, but this was actually taking place.

Just to be certain that this was Nellie, though by now it seemed like an absolute truth, the alchemist had to see the face of this person, a task that seemed impossible to do. Ed inched closer to the tub, ignoring the nauseating smell of rotting flesh, and with one push of his hand, he turned the body on its dorsal side. However, Ed was unprepared for what he was about to witness next; something that was not a part of Winry's dream.

The skin that should have been covering the skull was torn off in strips, exposing much of the underlying bone. Just like in the case of Den, the jaw had been removed, but the eyes, however, which were emotionless and staring into oblivion, remained in their respective sockets. The general chest area was torn open by means of a knife, revealing several tender organs that were situated within the ribcage. Additionally, there was a barrage of knife-inflicted gashes distributed throughout much of the ventral side of the corpse.

The alchemist found himself gaping at the setting with his own jaw hanging slightly open. He didn't know if he should be afraid or angry, since his mind had simply blanked out when the sight of a torn Nellie was in front of him. It was as though he was in a vacuum; the rest of the world had been involuntarily shut off from him. True, he had seen many deaths over his journeys, but to witness a friend of his in this state was just too much to bear.

His mind was brought back to reality, however, when a knife came sailing clear over his left shoulder, lodging itself in the tiled wall in front of him. As by instinct, Ed reeled himself around, only to gasp in shock. There was the murderer that had caused this scene, standing in the door frame with his face concealed under his trademark brown cloak.

"I-It can't be you!" Ed exclaimed, wishing that the killer wouldn't show up now. But those feels quickly turned to those of vengeance and anger, though fear still dominated much of his mind.

The deadly man didn't respond directly, however, which only frustrated the alchemist even more. Instead, he pulled out a black pistol, the same one that he revealed in every one of Winry's dreams, and aimed it at Ed.

Normally, the alchemist would have done some kind of evasive move in order to avoid getting shot, but he simply stood there, entranced by the slick gun. Perhaps it was because of the wave of shock that had overpowered him before when he saw Nellie's dead corpse swimming in a tub full of her own blood, but whatever the reason, Ed's body was mentally paralyzed and unable to move.

It wasn't until he felt a sharp, searing pain in his left shoulder that Ed snapped back to reality. Apparently, the murderer didn't have sympathy towards him, and instead pulled the trigger, thereby sending a bullet flying towards him. Ed collapsed to his knees as he screamed in pain, clutching the bleeding wound with his auto-mail hand. While trying to sooth the burning sensation, Ed noticed that the murderer pocketed the gun and wielded his knife, ready to finish him off. Perhaps the killer thought that he had the alchemist cornered, but Ed, however, had other plans.

When the man came within a foot of him, Ed knew that he had only one chance to survive. As expected, he raised his knife-bearing arm, and brought it down on the injured alchemist without so much as a second thought. However, contrary to what the killer thought would happen, Ed rolled out of the way at the last minute, letting the knife embed itself in the floor. The man tried to dislodge his weapon, but Ed took this opportunity to escape back into the hallway.

The alchemist knew that the murderer wouldn't give up, and so he continued to stumble through the hallway in an attempt to recollect himself. A million or so thoughts were seemingly flying around in his mind, but he knew that he couldn't die here. There was still so much that he needed to do, and Ed was prepared to avoid death at whatever cost, especially the fate that this maniac had planned for him. He just had to hold off for a little longer until the police or some military proxy arrived.

Ed forced himself to continue moving, for remaining idle would only benefit the murderer. However, the constant flow of blood from his open bullet wound only worsened the situation, not to mention that it caused him much agony in the meantime. Through partially blurred vision, Ed made his way about the house, careful to avoid nearing areas that were adjacent to the front door. But despite his best efforts to remain concealed in the hallways, Ed had somehow staggered into a small, desolate room, and this error could be costly.

The room contained one small window opposite to the only door that allowed entry into here. The square window itself was only about a foot in each dimension, meaning that escape via it was near impossible. The alchemist tried to flee the room before it was too late, but fate seemed to work against him. The familiar man in brown clothing made his appearance once again in the door, and Ed was forced to retreat against the wall in fear of getting injured even further.

"W-WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Ed demanded with unforgiving venom in his voice, "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"

His question fell on deaf ears, however, as the murderer simply stood there in deadly silence. Ed didn't know what he was planning in that sick mind of his, but he knew that the killer had successfully trapped him. In his current state, the alchemist could do little to defend himself if his opponent were to make a move now.

Even though the man's face was hidden under a hood, Ed could have sworn that he was staring at him with hateful eyes. However, some luck was still with the alchemist. Just when the murderer started to move closer to his fallen foe, a series of voice echoed through the house, prompting the man to halt his actions.

The alchemist chuckled, knowing that the police had arrived on the scene, and it would only be a matter of time until they apprehended this killer. "Seems that your killing spree is now over," Ed said with a smug, yet forced grin.

He could tell that the murderer didn't appreciate his last comment, but this wasn't a time for fighting. With one more death glance at Ed, the would-be assassin scurried out of the room and darted down the hallway outside, going in the opposite direction of the voices. Apparently, he was not planning on getting captured this early in his crime streak, but Ed was optimistic that the local authorities would seek him out and rightfully punish the killer for his actions.

Everything seemed to finally be working out in his favor, but Ed had severely neglected his gun wound. As a combined result of exhaustion and blood loss, the alchemist found it hard to stay conscious. Even though he fought to keep his eyes open, the effect of his injuries was beginning to take its toll on his body. Almost involuntarily, the alchemist felt his eyelids slowly close, throwing him into a state of darkness.

* * *

Several hours later, or so it seemed, Ed opened his eyes with a groan, discovering that he was now lying in his own bed, back safely at Winry's house. His left shoulder had a string of clean, white bandage running over it, apparently covering some kind of wound. The alchemist, at the time, didn't know how the injury happened, or what it was a result of. As a matter of fact, how did he get here in the first place? 

For the first few moments, his mind was relatively blank, still trying to understand what was going on. It was then, however, that all of the horrible memories from what happened previously at Nellie's house came rushing back to him. Ed tried to forcefully sit up as a result of the shock, but the pain from the bullet wound didn't allow it. Instead, he resorted to giving a loud, frustrated sigh in an attempt to vent some stress.

"Ed? Are you awake?" The surprised alchemist looked over to the slightly ajar door, noticing that Winry was peeking inside.

It came as a huge relief to know that she was safe, considering that something could have happened to her when he was unconscious. "Yeah," Ed replied rather dully, though in reality, he wished that his arm would stop radiating the irritating pain.

Winry gave a light smile as she approached her injured friend. "How's your arm feeling?" she inquired, running a soothing hand over the bandaged wound.

"It's fine, except that it still hurts a bit. But how did I get here?" Ed wanted to get some answers, considering that the lack of them was annoying him since he woke up.

His question caused the blonde mechanic to take on a sullen look. "The police found you in Nellie's house, sitting in a pool of your own blood. When they brought you outside, I thought that you were d-dead, but..." She paused for a moment to wipe some tears from her eyes, "but you were still breathing, so I told them to bring you here."

Ed looked down at his bedsheets with distress. Not only did Winry see him in a broken state, but she also had probably seen Nellie's corpse as well. "Did you see her body?" he asked vaguely, though Winry knew what he was talking about.

She nodded slowly, tears once again taking over her eyes. Ed noticed that her fists were trembling, knowing she must have taken the loss of Nellie with great difficulty. "Ed..." Winry whispered, moving slightly closer to the bed.

"What is it?" the alchemist questioned, unsure of what she would say next. However, Winry didn't say anything verbally, but instead wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Y-You're such an idiot! You said t-that you wouldn't get hurt, a-and now you're in bed with a damn bullet wound!" She choked out furiously, unleashing another wave of tears into Ed's chest.

Though the embrace was slightly painful due to the wound, Ed brought his auto-mail arm around her nonetheless, letting his other one rest. 'I can't be believe that I made her cry, again,' he mentally admitted, disgusted with himself.

With a sigh, he attempted to comfort her. "Look, Winry, I know how you must feel, but that killer finally showed up, so I had to try and capture him," Ed whispered gently, stroking her soft hair with his metallic hand.

"Then what would happen if he had better aim and killed you? What would I do then?" she cried out, not daring to imagine the situation that Ed's death would put her into.

The alchemist was at a loss for words. It wasn't entirely his fault that he got shot by the same man that previously committed two murders, but maybe there was a reason behind the killer's tactics. There was only about twenty feet between the two of them, and in Ed's shocked state, the murderer had a clear, unobstructed shot to either his chest or head. Perhaps he missed those crucial areas on purpose, as to let him suffer. Or maybe he wanted to inflict as much physical and emotional damage before going in for the final kill, but whatever the reason, Ed was overly grateful that he was still alive.

"If you knew the circumstances, then you would understand that there was nothing that I could've done to avoid getting shot," Ed explained, referring to the image of Nellie's body that stunned him.

Winry's crying subsided when she heard this, slightly happy to know that at least Ed wasn't being totally irresponsible with his own wellbeing. "Then tell me what happened," she requested, releasing herself from the alchemist as she sat on the edge of his bed, still wiping a few stray tears from her face.

"I intend to, but at least we don't have to worry about that murderer coming after us anymore," he said, remembering that the police must have captured the crazy lunatic considering that they were swarming the place by the time he tried to make his escape.

However, Ed only received a confused look from Winry. "What do you mean?" she asked, unsure of he was referring to.

The alchemist gave her an equally questioning face in return. "I'm talking about the murderer; the police had to catch him after they came into Nellie's house."

Winry lowered her head after realizing what he was talking about. "Ed..."

"T-They did get him, right?" the alchemist asked intently, staring at his best friend with eyes full of worry and anticipation. The authorities just _had_ to have apprehended his attacker, there was no doubt about it in his mind.

After a brief pause, Winry gazed back at Ed, shaking her head sadly.

"No, the police found no one in that house, except for you, and Nellie..."

* * *

That about wraps things up for this one. :P Oh by the way, if you check out my profile, you can see that I'm going to keep you posted on the progress of the chapters for this fic. :) 

And now it's time to acknowledge all of the great reviewers:

**sakuralover918**: Thanks. :P

**kikyoreborn9295**: Heh, thanks for reading and reviewing all of the previous chapters. .-

**Elric329**: I'm glad that you enjoy this fic to that degree. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Carrot The LuvMachine**: I bow down before you. Thanks for all the compliments; they made my day. :P

**Kari**: Lol, thanks for the review! ;)

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**: Heh, that's one way of putting it. ;P As always, thanks for reviewing.

**goddess of fallen shadows**: Thanks for reading, and for that kind review. :D

**xMeo**: That's good to know. :P Thanks!

**Brickwall847**: You can expect to see more fluff in the later chapters, too. ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**snwbnny**: Heh, perfect timing, eh:P Thanks for reviewing!

**Nirvana of the Undead**: Lol, hope you didn't mind the wait for this chapter. ;) Thanks for the review, too.

**Fanactic**: Rofl, thanks!

**EdxWinry**: Thanks for reading and reviewing:P

**Saturn Stars**: I got to take this time to thank you properly for the great review. :)

I have to admit that I sometimes struggle with Winry's dialogue, considering that I haven't really grasped her character just yet. After watching a good amount of the anime and reading some of the manga, I guess that I have just picked up Ed's character without too much difficulty, but yeah, I need to work on Winry. ;)

And I agree with you; it's very tempting to deviate from the main story and just to throw in tons of EdxWinry fluff. Believe it or not, I was actually planning on writing this whole story concept as a one-shot (without it being too long, of course), but I guess that I just wanted to really develop Ed and Winry's relationship in much more detail, so that's probably the real driving force behind me writing this fic. Besides, it would be much more fun to write a multi-chapter story. :P

I'm not exactly sure as to what situations you mean, but if you point some out, then I'd be glad to look further into them. I know it's mainly because I have mostly everything planned out in front of me, but it's obviously a different matter for the reader. Sorry for the confusion, by the way.

After reading the review up to the fourth point, I have to agree with you. I didn't really explain the bottleneck situation very well in the previous chapters, but what I was getting at, in the case of Winry, is that she had already placed her trust in Ed. That is, she _knows_ that harm won't come to her if he's around. I guess that I could have used some more detail in those certain bits.

Once again, I thank you. :P I appreciate that you're helping me out here, cause I do get jammed once in a while. Heh, I can already picture myself in that situation later on, so I must thank you again for letting me contact you directly via email. ;P

**Sanowaeca**: I guess this chapter answers your question. :P Thanks for the review, by the way!

**crazyanimefreak15**: Lol, sorry about the nightmares. And thanks again for the nice review. :)

* * *

Phew, can't remember getting that many reviews for a single chapter. ;P Until next time. 


	6. Illusions

Here's the next chapter for ya. :P Even though school is right around the corner, I'm still going to try to update weekly, but I can't guarantee that. Well, not much else to say here.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 6: Illusions

* * *

Ed's eyes widened in disbelief after Winry revealed that startling fact. How was it possible? The murderer clearly ran away from the police, who were by then already well into the building, but he also avoided the front door. As far as Ed knew, there was no other entrance that would allow for a possible escape, apart from maybe climbing through a window, but then he certainly would have been sighted by someone.

The reality of it further frustrated him. Not only did the murderer manage to kill someone, but he also got away with it, facing only a sliver of resistance from an already injured alchemist. It wasn't in Ed to run away from an opponent, but this was an exception considering the circumstances at the time. But what really made Ed tremble with anger was the fact that he couldn't have done anything to stop the murderer by himself.

"Ed, what's wrong?" Winry questioned innocently, noticing that he was now gritting his teeth, and his eyes were staring persistently at the ceiling above him.

"I could have had him," the alchemist replied in a mixed tone, disregarding the increased pain coming from his shoulder, "He was in the same damn room as me, but I froze at the sight of his weapon."

The blonde mechanic sighed, knowing that Ed would probably blame himself entirely for the situation. "There was nothing that you could have done. I would be pretty scared myself if someone pointed a loaded gun at me."

"But that's the problem!" Ed retaliated, unintentionally raising his voice, "This whole nightmare would have ended if I just wasn't so afraid of that pistol!" It then struck him that he actually admitted his fear, something that he hasn't done very often.

Winry knew better than to yell at him, considering that she somewhat understood the initial fear and shock. Instead, she placed a caring hand on his forehead, gently brushing the bangs away from his face. "You're one of the strongest people I know, Ed, but everyone has their limits."

The alchemist sighed, knowing that Winry was right; he acted like he could remedy every problem that the world had to offer. "It's just that I wanted to end your suffering," Ed whispered, "You've lost two of the closest things in your life, only because some guy out there wants to see me dead."

"But none of us could have seen this coming beforehand," Winry pointed out, "And even if we did, how would we deal with an enemy that we don't even know?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I just wished that things had gone differently back there," Ed said, looking rather regretful,

"So tell me, what really happened?" Winry questioned softly, looking at her best friend with compassion.

Ed gave himself a moment to relax, slowly managing to sit up on the bed. "It was exactly like your dream," he began, "I mean, everything I saw in there matched everything that you said earlier. I thought that maybe I was hallucinating or something, but I was wrong; this really took place."

"I went through Nellie's house, ending up in the bathroom that you mentioned," Ed continued, "At first, I was too afraid to pull away the curtain, hoping that maybe she was still alive. But eventually, I saw her mangled body, and that's when I felt like all of the courage within me was taken away."

Winry remained silent, unable to put together a single sentence. She couldn't believe what Ed was telling her. Surely, she must have misunderstood something, though Winry knew that she was only making up an ignorant excuse by doing so. It all seemed to happen so fast, almost too fast for her to comprehend.

"And then he showed up, didn't he?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Ed nodded, taking a breath before moving on with the retelling of the events. "Before I knew it, a knife came flying over my shoulder, and I figured that this was it. I turned around, and surely enough, there he was, standing around like he was expected or something."

"At first, I didn't know what was going on. I felt like I had somehow shut myself off from the world," the alchemist said quietly, "When he pointed that gun at me, I thought that I was going to die on the spot."

He involuntarily balled his auto-mail hand into a fist, feeling it tremble slightly as anger overtook his senses. "He was right there, Winry," Ed muttered, his voice remaining low, "I don't know why I just stood there. That bastard was right in front of me; I could have killed him and ended this mess. Why the hell did I just stand there?"

"Ed, stop being so hard on yourself," Winry soothingly whispered, seeing that Ed was starting to blame himself once again.

The alchemist instead gritted his teeth again, unable to suppress his rage. "It was just another one of my stupid mistakes; another thing that I messed up," he said, barely managing to stay audible, "I was supposed to keep you safe, but now I've dragged you into this mess, too."

It pained Winry to see the person that previously was so determined, reduced to a state like this. She already knew that Ed had never meant for any of this to happen, but he sounded as if he was solely responsible for the murderer's presence in Risembool, which obviously wasn't the case.

"And that was just the beginning. Before I knew it, he pulled the trigger, and then I noticed that he had actually shot me," the alchemist said, staring intensely at his bedsheets, "He pulled out his knife and moved closer to me, ready to finish me off."

For the umpteenth that day, the blonde mechanic felt her eyes water up, but she wasn't going to shed the tears. Ed's story sounded much more horrific than her dream, and having it told first hand from a person that risked his life constantly was indeed traumatic. His expatiation of the subject brought chilling images to Winry's mind, though she needed to know what went on from the time that Ed entered the house to the time when the police recovered his bleeding body.

Disregarding his urge to slaughter the killer, Ed continued with his experiences. "So he raised that damn knife, but I rolled out of the way at the last second. The blade got stuck in the floor, and this is when I ran back into the hallway. I seriously wanted to stab him or something when he was trying to pull the knife out, and it's a good thing that I didn't, because I wasn't really fit for a fight by then."

"I actually don't know what really happened next, except that I just kept running around the entire house until I found myself in a small room," Ed retold, putting on a frown as another wave of anger washed over him, "He followed me into the room, and I thought that I wouldn't live to see another day, only this time I really meant it."

Winry could hear his voice steadily getting lower with each darkening moment, understanding the effect that these terrible images must have. His articulate language actually brought out more emotion than Winry could have believed existed. "Ed, if you don't want to talk about it anymore, then you don't have to. I don't want to make you feel obligated or anything," she offered, looking at the alchemist with sympathy.

He shook his head, eager to finish revealing the demonic events. "I don't feel obligated at all, and I don't want to keep you in the dark."

The blonde mechanic registered his decision, gearing her mind for more of the chilling story. "I guess I was lucky after all," the alchemist continued, giving a brusque chortle, "I sat there with my shoulder bleeding, looking up at that bastard, thinking that he was going to kill me. But then I heard the police, and so I watched the killer run down the hallway. That's all I remember before I blacked out."

Ed gave a prolonged sigh after completing the almost infallible story. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but that's how it happened," he said in a sullen voice.

"I should be apologizing for asking you to remember that stuff. But besides that, doesn't it feel better to let some of that pain out?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

Ed gave a faint smile; a silent response that Winry knew was affirmative. Indeed, his spirit felt somewhat rejuvenated, having vented some of that raw anger. "Thanks for understanding," he said wholeheartedly, "But if you want, I can go over what I said in more detail."

Winry declined, refusing to put Ed through more morose thoughts. Though in reality, she was dying to find out more about the situation, Winry believed that the alchemist needed to recover some lost energy beforehand. Besides, he already retold the events once, so going over the same material would seem rather pointless right now.

"Maybe later, since I don't want to bother you now," the blonde mechanic answered with a slight grin, "And you should get some rest. Even if you are a fast healer, that wound won't patch itself up if you don't get any sleep."

The alchemist groaned with annoyance, but he knew that Winry had a point. Instead of presenting a counterargument, he flopped himself down on the bed, nestling under the covers. "Winry?"

"Yes?" she replied, standing up and getting ready to leave Ed's room.

"Thanks, again," the alchemist said, feeling the need to express his gratitude for her benevolence once more.

Winry gave another smile, looking down at him with a demure expression. "No problem, Ed. I'll be here if you need me," she said, quietly exiting the room after Ed nodded in understanding.

The blonde mechanic collapsed onto the living room couch shortly after departing from Ed's bedside, quite frankly tired from the day. So many things had taken place today that she didn't even bother to recollect on some at first, considering that two of them involved the deaths of Den and Nellie. If there was still any doubt in her that maybe the murderer would spare them, then by now it has dissipated.

It was as if the killer was dropping hints, giving clues as to when he would strike his final target. However, Winry couldn't be sure if he would still go ahead with his intentions, considering that the authorities were now well aware of his presence in Risembool. And since he was such an elusive person, the military would eventually have to investigate this, even if it was against Ed's wishes.

But what the alchemist said before, concerning the soldiers, actually scared her. What if the military would flood the town with officers, questioning every person and searching private property? Panic would rise in the population, and people from surrounding areas would also be afraid that the murderer would haunt their town next. Overall, it seemed that perhaps Ed was right; hoping that the military avoided the murderer would prove more beneficial for everyone, even if it meant sacrificing some security.

Then again, what if more people were killed, especially in the case of Nellie? If this killer carried on with his reign of terror, he was bound to eventually kill someone important, or at least a person of some significance. There would come a time when his killings would eventually aggravate Ed, which meant that he would try to hunt down the killer himself. That would be the time to strike; the alchemist would be too focused on his whereabouts in order to pay attention to the killer's plan.

The fact that Ed was injured wasn't good news either. He wouldn't be able to fight the killer if God forbid that he attacked, therefore he would be putting his life at great risk. Worse yet, the murderer had opportunity upon opportunity to kill the alchemist during any time of the day now, which would leave Ed to be on his guard all of the time. Not only would this drain him of more energy, but the stress would eventually tire him out until he simply collapsed from exhaustion.

While Winry was lying there in with a pensive state, she barely noticed a glistening object that flew through the air, mere inches above her face. The blonde mechanic sat up in shock, trying to figure out if perhaps she was seeing things. However, Winry's face went pale when she saw a familiar looking knife embedded in the wall near the couch.

'Oh no, this can't be what I think it is,' she prayed, getting off the furniture in order to inspect the utensil.

Upon dislodging it from the wall, Winry discovered that it still had crimson stains on the blade part, but indeed, this was probably the knife that had served as a key factor in Den's murder. However, a question lingered in her mind: how did it get here? Winry didn't need to look far, however, as she noticed that a window in the living room was open. That particular window happened to be directly across from the couch, giving the attacker who threw it a clear chance to slice her neck open.

The hypothesis seemed well constructed, but there was still one more unanswered question. Winry didn't remember if the window was open when she first came into the room, but she could have sworn that it was closed. If that was the case, then how was it open now, without her noticing the action? Well, whatever the cause, she knew that this had to be the work of the murderer, and this was his first attempt at her life.

That stark thought sent chills down Winry's spine; the killer was now turning his attention back to his primary targets. She stared blankly at the instrument in her hand for a few moments, until realizing that this might be the same knife that Ed had hid under the stairs earlier today. As a matter of fact, Ed mentioned that the murderer attempted to kill him with a knife, and maybe this was the same one.

However, she couldn't be sure unless she verified this conjecture. Just for safety reasons, she placed the knife on the coffee table before slowly making her way to the door that led to the back yard. Winry hesitantly opened the wooden barrier and stepped outside, kneeling near the stairs next to the place where the original knife was supposedly hidden.

She had to do a double take, gasping when she realized that the small space underneath the wooden stairs was vacant, with the exception of an unwrapped piece of dark cloth. If she remembered clearly, Ed encased the knife in this cloth, which only helped to prove that the murderer had indeed attempted to kill her with the same weapon that was responsible for the deaths of both Den and Nellie, and nearly Ed's as well.

A low rumbling of thunder from overhead prompted Winry to start making her way back inside, but something in the distance caught her eye. If she looked hard enough, the blonde mechanic could barely make out the warped silhouette of a person standing near a tree in the grassy hills farther away from the house. Winry couldn't help but wonder if this person was watching her the whole time starting from the second that she came outside. The person didn't move; he stood perfectly still, and she could tell that he was staring right back at her.

She was actually beginning to feel slightly afraid, considering that the person was rather eerie. When the first flash of lightning struck, Winry lost sight of the person, but before she knew it, he had reappeared, only slightly closer to the house this time. The blonde mechanic desperately wanted to leave the scene, but something was holding her from running back inside the house. Even though it seemed like suicide to try, Winry wanted to know who this person was.

However, after a few more strikes of the blinding light, the person was starting to get dangerously close to her. Not daring to risk being out here any longer, Winry darted back inside the house, slamming the door shut behind her. She felt her heart hammering against her chest as a result of fright, and her mind went into a very brief state of delirium. Indeed, the time obviously seemed appropriate enough for the murderer if he was to make a move, assuming that was him in the first place.

Dozens of thoughts raced through her mind, but one about the deadly knife was prominent in particular. Suddenly remembering that she left the murderer's weapon of choice behind before leaving outside, Winry sprinted all-out into the living room, only to find out that the utensil had vanished, and instead was replaced by a single piece of crumpled paper.

With a shaking hand, she picked up the parchment and straightened it out in order to see what was written on it. The message, which appeared to be written in a hurry, was almost illegible, but the blonde mechanic was able to make out the poorly written string of words.

"The day is coming," she whispered, reading from the note with eyes wide open.

At first, Winry thought that the note was referring to the time when the murderer would make another kill, but it seemed wise to think that perhaps it was talking about the day when he would actually kill her and Ed. The latter seemed more practical, considering that the person she saw outside just a few minutes ago must have been the murderer himself.

The sound of the ever increasing rain had begun to echo through the house, and the occasional flashes of lightnings illuminated the desolate rooms briefly, casting grotesque shadows on the floor. A strong breeze was flowing into the living room from the still open window, creating a uncomfortable atmosphere inside the house. However, Winry's eyes traveled to the unsealed window, feeling a sense of uneasiness run through her.

Seeing that she was starting to worry herself, Winry shook her mind of any images about the murderer, and proceeded across the room. Just as she slid the window shut, another flare of white lightning filtered through the glass, and the figure of the hooded killer appeared at the window.

The blonde mechanic screamed out in pure fright, stumbling backwards onto the couch. Even though the light was fairly limited, Winry's eyes remained transfixed on the man, who stood mere centimeters away from the house. The murderer didn't show any signs of moving, instead he was simply standing there, his breath fogging up the glass as he breathed.

"Winry!" She heard Ed's alarmed voice coming from down the hall, but she couldn't find the strength to reply.

"Winry, what's wrong?" Ed inquired as he ran up to her, clad in his dark pants and black tank top.

Somehow, she managed to reply, though finding the words to properly describe the man was beyond her. "I-I saw him," the blonde mechanic said in a staccato voice, her entire body trembling.

Ed looked in the general direction that Winry was gazing at, though he only saw a vacant window. "Are you sure?" was his simple question, unsure if she really did see the man.

"I s-swear, Ed," she desperately said, latching herself to his mechanical arm when a fresh strike of lightning lit up the room once more.

Judging from her look of pure terror, Ed couldn't believe otherwise. He continued to stare out the window, hoping to catch a glance of this murderer, not noticing that Winry was trying to show him a folded piece of weathered paper.

"What's this?" the alchemist inquired after realizing the parchment.

He didn't need an answer, however, as Ed unfolded the paper, reading its contents quietly to himself. Just as Winry, Ed didn't understand what the message meant right away, but he suspected that the murderer was going to go in for the final kill soon, and he had to be on his best guard in order to prevent that from happening. Though as prepared as might be, the murderer could strike anytime on any day, which put him at a severe disadvantage.

Winry had somewhat calmed down from her previous state of fear, though any foreign sound still brought back feelings of dread. She wished that everything would revert to the way it was, before this unknown killer showed up and started plaguing everyone with fears of a painful death, but that obviously was out of the question right now. Even though things seemed as if they were incorrigible, at least she had Ed to comfort her.

Though the alchemist couldn't see anyone outside, he had a suspicion that the murderer was somewhere out there, plotting his next move. But what if Winry perhaps saw the killer's face when he supposedly appeared at the window? Actually, Ed deliberately avoided asking the question until she calmed down from the first shock, and now seemed like a good time to do so.

"Winry, did you by any chance see how the murderer's face looked like?" He hated to press her for answers by asking these types of questions, but it had to be done.

However, the blonde mechanic just shook her head, letting go of his arm in the meantime. "No, he still had that hood on."

Ed sighed, once again unable to figure out the identify of the maniac. Quite frankly, he was getting tired of this little game; the killer was toying with his mind for far too long. Not only was it frustrating, but the alchemist's impatience would eventually drive him to radical means in order to capture this guy.

His revere was disturbed, however, when Winry spoke up, though in a hushed voice. "Ed, what if the murderer kills us while we are asleep? I mean, if he already came in here, then what would stop him from doing it again?" She looked down at the wooden floor with tired eyes, trying to suppress a yawn.

The alchemist gave a light chuckle, seeing that she always seemed to be concerned with some aspect of the world. "Don't worry about that. He won't get the chance because I'll make sure that he stays far away from you," Ed replied, watching her mood literally transform for the better.

Winry was about to thank him for the kindness, but she realized one trick with his plan. "Thanks, Ed, but I don't want you to lose sleep over me," she said modestly, with a slight blush creeping onto her face.

"Really, it's no problem. I got enough sleep already, and my wound seems to be healing nicely," he replied, scratching the back of his head after noticing the hint of crimson on the mechanic's face.

This actually reminded him of the countless times when, as kids, they would take care of each other if one happened to sustain an injury, or if either of the two fell ill. However, it was a different cause this time; the childhood innocence was instead replaced by terror, and the fear of not living to see another day. But no matter what the reason was, reminiscing on those cherished moments always brought a smile to his face.

"I guess I'm going to sleep then," Winry said as she was unable to shield a yawn, causing Ed to put on a questioning look.

His confusion was answered, however, as he saw the time on the clock handing nearby. It was now well past midnight, and Ed honestly couldn't believe that this day had dragged on for as long as it did. So much had happened, though it only took one twenty-four hour period to encapsulate the events.

"Alright then. If anything, I'll be down here," Ed said, making sure that Winry knew where to find him if something came up.

The blonde mechanic nodded with a smile, wishing the alchemist a good night as she left for her bedroom. Ed returned the gesture, taking a seat on a nearby chair as soon as Winry was out of sight. There was still plenty of controversy with regards to the murderer, and now he had some quiet time to think those points over.

Ed resumed his thoughtful gaze, staring at the window that Winry claimed to have spotted the killer in. However unlikely it was, he wished that he could see the repugnant man through the glass, thereby giving him a chance to capture him, but this character's evanescent appearances were rare. Nonetheless, Ed's golden eyes continued to survey the cloudy glass, though only the contorted frames of the trees swaying in the heavy gale outside come into view when periodic lightning provided its brief light.

After a few more minutes of unproductive gazing, Ed was about to give up. However, his eyes bolted back to their previous direction after he caught the faint outline of a relatively average sized person moving briskly, yet suspiciously across the dirt road in front of the house. Even though the only source of light came from the lightning itself, he was positive that he had seen someone moving out there.

Ed suddenly stood up with unreal speed, tempted to simply run out there into the storm to verify that the person was the murderer, but by now, Ed knew better than that. This was a trick; if that was the murderer, then he would try to lure him outside, thereby leaving Winry defenseless. And while the alchemist would be fruitlessly trying to locate the man, the killer himself would easily sneak into the house, leaving the blonde mechanic at his mercy.

Then again, what if that wasn't the murderer, but an innocent person instead? It didn't seem probable, since Winry thought the same in her first nightmare, and it turned out that the killer was indeed lurking outside. Besides that, no one in their right mind would try to brave a powerful storm in the middle of the night, except for that crazed murderer, of course.

Additionally, if that was someone other than the alleged killer, then Ed would be in alarm for no reason. Contrary to his previous decision, the alchemist slowly walked to the front door, unfastening the only lock that secured it. Instead of leaving the house, Ed planned to simply look into the night from the porch, which would disallow the opportunity for the murderer to gain entrance inside.

A powerful gust of wind, carrying countless droplets of water, slammed against Ed as he opened the door with some difficulty. Mother Nature apparently had chosen to make life harder for the alchemist, as trying to fish out a human through the thick curtain of rain was an arduous task. Even though he couldn't directly pinpoint the murderer, Ed somehow had a feeling that he was nearby, using the dark night as his cover.

Indeed, the murderer's elusive tactics had once again paid off, managing to avoid Ed's piercing eyes. The alchemist sighed shortly after, closing the door as he aborted his futile search effort.

'That bastard is really starting to annoy me now,' Ed admitted, leaning against the adjacent wall.

However, the alchemist didn't get to enjoy another second of peace, as a loud, crashing sound erupted from somewhere within the house. The noise wasn't very definite, such as a window being shattered, but instead it was a combination of various other sounds. Ed suspected that the killer had something to do with it, and so he bolted upstairs to Winry's room, just in case the murderer had already picked a target.

When he opened the door to the mechanic's room, he was surprised to see her awake and already sitting up on her bed, looking rather frightened. A small lamp stood on a nearby table, providing a welcoming light. Ed breathed a quick sigh of relief, happy to see her unharmed.

"What was that noise?" she asked, before he could say anything, looking at the alchemist with concern.

"I was actually hoping that you would know," Ed replied, casting his gaze back out the door as he surveyed the interior of the building from above.

Winry wasn't sure as to what the source of the noise was, but she felt that the murderer was behind it. For some reason, she seemed to have a sixth sense, so to say, when it came to events related to the unknown slaughterer. Fear was the matrix, an emotion that both helped to keep her safe, in a way, yet caused her much suffering in the same time.

"I think you already know who may have caused that noise, and I need you to be extra careful," Ed said, still goggling the rest of the house from inside the room.

Though he already warned her to be cautious, the blonde mechanic knew that this was a special case. Winry gave a depressed sigh, resting her head in her hands as she continued to stare nonchalantly at the fabric sheets on the bed; there was no way that she would manage to catch some shuteye.

Ed noticed her rather thoughtful state, and so he started to become slightly troubled. "Is something wrong?" he inquired, tearing his eyes away from the door.

"It's nothing, really, but now I won't be able to fall asleep," she said, causing Ed to feel fragments of guilt.

"I'm sorry, Winry. I should be watching over you so you could feel safe, but it looks like I'm not really sticking to my promise," Ed sighed, looking down at the floor, avoiding her gaze.

The blonde mechanic shook her head in slight amusement, gaining another questioning look from Ed. "It's not like that," she said, lifting the alchemist's mood, "If you weren't here, then I would be scared. But I know that this guy is running around somewhere, and that's what's keeping me up."

Ed was about to reply, but something caused him to freeze in place: the sound of steady, yet soft footsteps coming from somewhere in the dark house. The alchemist's eyes went wide, realizing that the killer was now definitely inside the building, and his targets were right under his nose. One look at the terrified Winry told Ed that she had figured the same.

Without anymore persuasion, Ed turned around and slammed the wooden barrier shut. He brought his hands together, then reached out to the door as he preformed alchemy, merging it with the parent frame. The end result was a fairly well sealed doorway, hopefully enough to keep the murderer out. But just in case he had underestimated the murderer's capabilities, Ed transmuted his auto-mail into a knife-like blade.

After seeing all of this, Winry knew that this was going to develop into a serious situation. She kept her eyes on Ed as he came over to her, sitting himself down on the bedside, parallel to the edge, with his auto-mail arm facing the door. The happiness in his golden eyes had been replaced by anxiety, and along with that, Ed bore a face of concern and worry.

He spoke in an intentionally hushed voice. "Winry, if this guy attacks us, then I'll try to hold him off for awhile, enough for you to escape outside."

Winry wasn't too pleased with that idea. "And you expect me to just leave you to fight him on your own?"

Ed gave her a severe glare, leaving no room for argument. The blonde mechanic sighed, seeing that she had no further options. Then again, even if she stayed behind, it would only cause Ed to worry about her safety, forcing him to fight defensively instead of offensively.

The quiet atmosphere was starting to become rather eerie. The sound of the footsteps had vanished during the time when Ed was sealing the door, but the silence was short lived. The killer had obviously halted for a moment, though soon enough, the sounds of his boots colliding with the timber floor came back, and they were much more audible this time.

As as though by instinct, Winry slid her hand into Ed's human one, interlinking her fingers with his. The alchemist didn't mind, and instead, he gripped on tighter. Ed knew that Winry must be afraid, considering that the ruthless killer was only a matter of feet away. In that sense, he was determined to keep her clear of danger, vowing that the murderer wouldn't get any chance to hurt her.

The footsteps kept on getting louder with each passing moment, and it wasn't too long until the creaking of the worn stairs could be heard, signaling that the killer was on his way to the second floor landing. Each step mounted the tension inside Winry's room, both of its occupants still uncertain about the near future.

Ed felt the familiar tightening in the back of his throat, overcome with a sense of anticipation as the footsteps completed their ascent. Tiny droplets of sweat slid down his forehead as his eyes painfully bored into the sealed doorway, half expecting the murderer to burst through, though it wasn't an impossible event considering his antics. If the murderer was purposely walking slowly in order to incite these emotions, then he was succeeding, unfortunately.

After a short pause, the steady sound of footsteps resumed, growing dangerously close to the sealed door. Winry's stomach churned uncomfortably as the murderer neared her safe haven of a room, quite obviously already knowing where to go. Then again, the sight of a warped doorway would probably be something that the killer was looking for in the first place.

And that's when it happened; the footsteps came to an abrupt halt directly in front of the sealed door. Ed and Winry felt themselves freeze as a low grinding sound was emitted from the other side, accompanied by a small crack that began to form on the warped wood...

* * *

There you go. :) Now it's time to thank the reviewers:

**sableluver12**: Rofl, I thank you greatly for all of the compliments. :D A book would be fun to write, but unfortunately, I don't have any time these days to sit down in front of my box in peace. Heh, thanks for reading and reviewing!

**darkfireblade**: Lol, thanks for reading, and for the reviews!

**kikyoreborn9295**: Thanks!

**EdxWinry**: Thanks. :)

**PixieGirl13**: Heh, I'm happy that you like this fic so much. :) Anyways, thanks for reading, and for all of the descriptive reviews!

**Nirvana of the Undead**: Thanks. :P

**Joy-girl**: Thanks for the compliments:D It's good to see that the suspense is actually working. :)

**Carrot The LuvMachine**: Once again, I'd like to thank you for the kind review. :) Eventually, you'll see who this madman is, but that's still some time away. ;P

**Tai Sora Potter**: Thanks for the review. :P And yeah, I know what you mean with regards to keeping the characters IC, but it's good to know that they aren't too OOC yet. :)

**Fullmetal Ai**: Thanks, I'm glad that you enjoy the fic, even with the amounts of bloodshed:P

**snwbnny**: Thanks! And here's the new chapter, so um... :snatches cookie and runs:

**Elric329**: Heh, thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Fooly Cooly girl**: Thanks:D

**silent:tears:fall**: Lol, it's nice to see that the suspense and whatnot is paying off in the fic. :P Thanks for reviewing, too!

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**: Rofl, eventually you'll see. :P Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Brickwall847**: Heh, I also do feel sorry for those two, in a way. :P As for writing more horror stuff, I can't promise anything, but I'll try. ;) Thanks for reviewing as well!

**Crazyanimefreak15**: Thanks for the kind review! It's a relief to know that the OOC'ness isn't getting out of hand. :)

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Until next time. :P 


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